Tangled
by dragonprincess68
Summary: Rapunzel just watched the woman who raised her fall out a window. Journey with her as she experiences things for the first time, says yes to Eugene's proposal, and more. Written a few years ago, but also loosely based on the movie Tangled Before Ever After and the following tv series on Disney Channel.
1. Chapter 1

I watch the woman who I thought was my mother fall down to the ground. As soon as I hear something I can only assume is her body I give Eugene my attention once more. I can't believe she tried to kill the man I love. I can't believe the man I love chopped my long hair. Now I can't save him.  
"No, no, no, no. Eugene! Look at me! Stay with me Eugene!" I urge grabbing his hand and putting it to my unmagical, ordinary brown hair. "Flower gleam and glow. Let you power shine, make the clock reverse bring back what once was mine".  
"Rapunzel," Eugene says interrupting me trying desperately to save his life.  
"What?"  
"You were my new dream," he whispers. I try to laugh through the tears coming down my face.  
"And you were mine," I admit. I watch him with a heavy heart as he dies in my arms. Why does a broken heart hurt so much? No one told me how when a person dies a part of you dies with them. It was just me and Pascal once more.

"Heal what has been hurt. Change the fate's design, save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine. What once was mine". The tears are coming down my face and onto his. The only thing to stop me while I'm crying my heart out is a yellow flash of light coming from where "my mother" had stabbed him. I look up to see light emanating from his stomach. As soon as it fades I check out the wound to see it has been healed. I move a piece of hair out of my face as I look over at his face. His eyes slowly open.  
"Rapunzel?" he asks weakly.  
"Eugene?" I gape.  
"Did I ever tell you I've got a thing for brunettes?" he teases.  
"Eugene!" I exclaim attacking him with a huge hug. After I feel him hug me back I let him go, close my eyes, and press my lips against his. He kisses me back and after a moment pushes me away.  
"Help me get these chains off," he says hastily. Hopping over the glass scattered around the room to the keys on the counter I return and unchain him. He grabs my hand and drags me up the stairs and into my room where we begin kissing once more. It turns into more and when that is over we lie side by side.  
"I- I wanted to thank you. For saving my life. I owe you Blondie- I mean Rapunzel," Eugene says.  
"Do you remember when we went to town? Hey, how old is the lost Princess?" I wonder aloud. I hope he catches on soon.  
"It was magical in town with you yesterday. As for the princess, I think yesterday she turned about 18," Eugene responds. He turns to look at me not asking but I can still tell he is wondering why I want to know.  
"Eugene, I just found out that- I found out before you came that I am the lost Princess. Think about it! My birthday was yesterday and so was the lost princess's. She turned 18 yesterday and so did I! How long has the princess been missing? Since she was kidnapped as a baby 18 years ago, I've lived here for around that same amount of time. I think I've known deep down that she wasn't always my mom. She never even looked like me and when I asked about my father she said he died when she was three months pregnant with me. She said he fell out the tower window the night before she told him that they were expecting me. She said he could've found out when she was telling a friend or something and wanted out because he didn't want to be a dad. I should've known though. Every time she felt "run down" I would have to sing for her and she'd be young again," I explain. He remains quiet for a moment. I'm assuming it takes time to understand what I said.  
"Oh crap! What have I done?" he asks.  
"What do you mean 'oh crap'? Did you even listen to what I just said?" I snap. Clearly the answer is no.  
"You don't get it! If you really are the lost princess then that means I could be killed for what happened! It's bad enough that he already wants me dead! If he finds out then I am deader than a dead man," he panics.  
"Well then he doesn't have to know. Whatever you're freaking out about no one will have to find out. It's our secret," I tell him.  
"I can't believe that happened," he announces.  
"Eugene!" I practically yell to get his attention.  
"Fine. We tell no one or it will be my neck," he agrees.  
"I don't even know why you're worried," I say beginning to kiss him once again.  
"Get up. We're going back to the kingdom," he finally says calmly. Why is he suddenly so calm? Ugh, guys are so difficult to understand.  
"Why? What are we going to do?" I ask him beginning to do as I'm told.  
"I know that you and I have made the decision to be together after what had just happened. Now, the only question left to answer is what happens next? Do we stay here forever or go back to town? I have made the decision for us though. We're going to take you home, Rapunzel. You will finally get to meet your family and you'll truly be home," Eugene tells me. I blink back happy tears. Home. He's taking me to where I belong.  
"Okay. Let's go meet my family," I announce through tears of joy. We take the secret stairs out and he helps me onto Maximus.  
"Rapunzel is the lost Princess Max. What do you say we take her home?" he coaxes the horse. I grab onto Eugene tightly as we speed away. Once in the clear we come to an erupt halt. Eugene gets off and runs back towards the tower. Max and I follow him with Pascal holding onto Max's mane with his dear life. Upon arriving we see Eugene freaking out once more.  
"Rapunzel, what happened to her body? What did you see after that chameleon tripped her?" Eugene asks me in sheer panic.  
"Why are you asking me? We both saw what happened. She fell- that's her cloak! Is she really dead?" I begin wondering. Fear creeps up my spine.  
"I think she's dead! My guess is that these are her ashes on her cloak. She's so old she became dust about the time she hit the ground maybe," he guesses with a sigh of relief. I look at gray dust on the cloak. Whoa.  
"Eugene. I'm scared of this place, please take me home," I beg him.  
"Alright. Let's go," he tells me mounting Max and we race off once more. After a while we reach the bridge where the kingdom entrance is. Eugene urges Max to go back to the castle faster.  
Upon arriving I see the guards begin walking towards Eugene.  
"It's so suicidal for you to come back," one guard says.  
"King Thomas said to make sure you still get to the gallows if you ever came back," the other guard says.  
"And the captain isn't happy you stole his horse," the first guard says. Eugene helps me off of Max's back and pushes me behind him.  
"Well the captain can get over himself. As for King Thomas? Let him know that his daughter has finally come home. I have found the lost princess," Eugene announces.  
"I'm Rapunzel- uh... Princess Rapunzel," I tell the guards.  
"Well we have a few questions before we get the king and queen girly. When is you birthday? How old are you? If you are the lost princess then where have you been this entire time? What makes you think that you are the lost princess?" guard one asks rudely.  
"My birthday was yesterday, I turned 18. The woman I thought was my mother confessed to kidnapping me after I realized that this kingdom's symbol meant something. In a memory I saw the symbol and the king and queen. I understand how crazy that sounds but it's true! The woman who kidnapped me kept me deep within the forest in a hidden cove in a tall tower. Now, I demand to see the king and queen because I want to know if I truly belong here and who my real family is," I demand close to tears. Another guard who while the other guards had been questioning me walks over to me and I shove Eugene out of the way. Last thing I want to do is watch him die in front of me once more. The guard circles me and looks closely at my face. His face softens.  
"Conli, go get the king and queen. Let them know that the lost princess has finally returned home," he orders guard one. Conli makes a run for it as he scrambles inside.  
"What makes you believe her? I could've brought some random girl," Eugene tells him.

"But it's not. This is the lost princess," the guard responds.

"Took me a while to believe she was the lost princess. I didn't realize I found her. How did you know just by looking at her?" he wonders.  
"She looks like Queen Primrose. And as for you Rider just be glad I'm not sending you to the gallows. I'm letting King Thomas deal with you," he answers.  
"Well time to let the cat out of the bag because my name isn't really Flynn Rider. I got that name from a child's book when I was little," Eugene admits tauntingly with a sly smile on his face.  
"Then what is it?" the guard asks skeptically.  
"Eugene Fitzherbert," he confesses. That sly grin had disappeared. The guard lets out a small laugh before looking back to me.  
"I'm the captain of the guards, but you can call me Captain, Princess. I actually have a daughter who works inside, and she's around your age. Jenkins, put Max in the stables. If you and Rider- I mean whatever his name is because I forgot it already, would come with me I can take you to the balcony where it'll be easier for them to see you immediately," Captain tells me leading Eugene and I up some stairs. He follows the Jenkins guard to where the stables must be and we walk to the part of the balcony where you can hold onto the rail while you overlook the kingdom.  
"Where you're standing is the exact place the king and queen stand when they release the lantern," Eugene informs me.  
"I feel like I'm in a very historic place," I respond. I feel a shiver run down my spine. A moment later I want to kiss Eugene once more because he puts his arm around my waist. I put my head on his chest before making him hold my hand because some of the town's people begin staring.  
"This feels weird. I'm a wanted criminal and everyone staring at us now knows that. Really I should've died had Max not gotten the guys from the Snuggly Duckling. People never get to stand up here unless they are worth triple everyone down there or the king and queen invites them," Eugene says. The look on his face says he will never be worthy of standing on the balcony next to me now that I'm a princess and he is a wanted thief.  
"Well let them think what they want," I respond watching the sunset. The sky is so much brighter and a lot prettier here in the kingdom.  
"I love you," Eugene tells me.  
"I don't really know what love is, but I feel this thing in my chest. It makes me feel happy and wants me to constantly be next to and in your arms. If that's love then I love you too," I tell him.

At that moment the castle doors open. At the doors is a slender looking woman with brown hair and a full length purple and white dress. Her hair is halfway up and the hair that is down reaches the bottom of her back. On her neck is a pearl necklace with three pink gems in the middle, and she has earrings that match her necklace. A man is behind her. He has a medium build, and he is in a blue and yellow shirt with the sun symbol on a thick necklace with expensive looking gems. The man is wearing a reddish-purple sleeveless jacket, and blue pants with brown shoes. He looks a couple years older then the woman, his brown hair has some gray mixed into it along with his facial hair. The woman is first to move, and after a couple of steps she stops so I take about four. She continues to approach me with more and more steps pausing at least four steps from my location. She seems hesitant to continue coming near me. Reaching a hand out she touches my face looking at my face closely for a moment. She looks like she's about to cry. I get a feeling I'm where I belong and like her I am seconds from happy tears. She pulls me into a hug, and unlike the woman I thought was my mother she hugs me tight stroking my hair. We both cry happily. I look up at the man who just stands behind his wife smiling. He chuckles softly before joining the woman and I. I feel the three of us sink to the floor and for once I feel safe without Eugene behind me. I feel safe in the arms of the king and queen. The queen moves an arm from around me and a moment later I feel another person join the hug. Even with my eyes closed I can tell it's Eugene because of the smell of his clothes. Moments later we are interrupted by a girl.  
"King Thomas, Queen Primrose? Dinner is ready," she says. As soon as we stop hugging Eugene scurries away and goes back to where I had left him when the king and queen had came outside. I spring up after he does, suddenly full of energy because next to meeting Eugene it was the bestest day ever.  
"Thanks Cassandra," the king says. I help him up and he helps his wife up.

"I've been waiting for this day for the past 18 years. We both have been waiting for this day," the queen tells me wiping her eyes.  
"What are you doing here Rider? I thought I gave orders to my men to have you executed this morning," the king tells Eugene.  
"Your highness," I begin to say.  
"Sweetie, you don't have to call us that. We are your Mom and Dad so instead of being formal please just call us that," the queen- Mom explains. Her eyes shifting between me and the king- Dad before setting back on me.  
"His name isn't Flynn Rider. It's Eugene Fitzherbert. Earlier today he saved me and he's the one that brought me here. He's changed for the better, I promise," I tell my parents. It's weird having both parents mainly because I've never had a father.  
"Thank you Flynn- er... Eugene. Thank you for bringing our baby home," Mom tells him.  
"I-I don't know what I would've done without him," I say proudly.  
"Well, I guess I can grant you your freedom because of that. Nevertheless you are still a criminal and I can't have you in this kingdom," Dad says to him. I watch Eugene's face become a mix between sad and confused.  
"D- Dad, if he promises to change his ways then can he stay?" I ask. My parents stare at me for a second before sharing a look towards each other.  
"Thomas, please at least think about it. Let her know in the morning. One night at least won't hurt," Mom begs him.  
"Okay, I'll think about it. The only reason I'm doing this is because of our daughter," Dad says.  
"I'm not sure what name the horrible woman gave you, but we named you Princess Rapunzel Renay Jones of Corona the night you were taken. Neither of us have told a single soul that was it because it was supposed to be announced at the ball the next day. Like the lanterns the ball was supposed to celebrate your birth," Mom explains confused after seeing the shocked look on my face.  
"My name is Rapunzel! I've been going by that name my whole life! She must've over heard you and she named me Rapunzel. I'm not sure if ," I realize.  
"At least you don't have to work on going by another name," Eugene jokes. I'm the only one to laugh at his joke.  
"Let's go back inside. Dinner is getting cold, and it's getting dark out here. Please join us Eugene. We'll give you a place to stay until King Thomas makes his decision, and food," Mom promises.  
"Please accept. I want to spend more time with you," I whisper in his ear.  
"It would be an honor to," he tells my parents.  
As we go in Mom gives me this look as if she was telling me I could do better, like end up with a man of royal descent.  
Upon arriving inside it is HUGE and so fancy. The place is so much taller than my tower! It's at least three times grander.  
"When you aren't working with bad guys you never realize how big this place is," Eugene mumbles. I smile. We reach the dining table within ten minutes the castle is so big.  
"Your father sits at the end right there I sit next to him no matter what. You can sit on the other side of him, and Eugene can sit next to you. That is if you want to," Mom says. Dad pushes her chair close to the table, and Eugene does the same thing as soon as I take my place. I give him a small smile. We take turns catching up on the past eighteen years since I've been gone. By the time we finish dinner it's nine o'clock, and by the time we finish talking I am struggling to stay awake at midnight. I put my head on Eugene's shoulder and close my eyes while Mom goes to check on the time, and Dad sends some of the castle workers home for the night.  
"Rapunzel," Eugene says waking me up. I look at him groggily and rub my eyes hoping I don't look like I fell asleep while my parents were away.  
"Let's go show you your rooms," Mom says quietly. Mom shows us hers and Dad's room, then mine, and finally almost all the way across the hall is Eugene's room.

I try sleeping, but the thought of being alone in my room scares me so after ten minutes I leave my room and scurry over to my parents' room. They are whispering about something and there are papers spread across the bed in front of them. Dad looks up at me and scoops up the papers hiding them in a drawer next to his bed.  
"Are you okay, dear?" he asks. I shake my head no.  
"Come here, sweetheart. You can sleep with us tonight," Mom says holding her arms out. I rush over to my parents and climb to a spot right next to the both of them.  
"After all this time it actually is nice to feel your presence. We missed a lot of your life, but I think I'm glad that this is one part of your childhood we never missed," Dad says turning out the lights.  
"Personally I think I missed the first words the most. That and first steps, but this is still nice. It's the phase I never missed. Right before I went into labor I kept thinking about how nice this would be," Mom sighs. I fall asleep rather quickly after that. The safety feeling of being near my parents where I belong. It felt weird coming into the kingdom with a feeling I truly belonged here, but at the time until I saw the mural I couldn't place where. A voice told me I belonged here, but I shook it off thinking it was my child self dreaming of being a princess. I was so stupid.


	2. Chapter 2

I wake up the next morning to a dress similar to the one I'm wearing only this one is longer and is gold and white on the foot of my parents' bed. Both my mom and dad are gone. I get up and run barefoot to the room Eugene is in.

He's still asleep when I walk in, and lay down under the blankets next to him. He looks so handsome sleeping. He wakes up and looks at me before a panic look comes across his face.

"How long have you been next to me? Wait. Follow up question. Why are we in the palace?" he asks me.

"Only a couple of seconds, I slept in my parents room last night. We are in the palace because I live here silly. Remember last night?" I respond.

"It's all a blur," he tells me rubbing his eyes.

"Princess Rapunzel?" a woman's voice calls out.

"Cassandra, why are you shouting?" Dad asks the woman who was calling me.

"I can't find the princess anywhere," the girl tells my father.

"Well let's see if our guest has seen her," he says.

"I'm not in here. You haven't seen me since last night," I whisper to Eugene hiding under his bed leaving him with a confused look on his face.

"Good morning. We were wondering if you've seen the princess. Hope we didn't wake you," the girl says.

"No, I woke up a few minutes ago actually. I haven't seen the princess since last night," Eugene tells them.

"Where on earth is she then?" Dad asks.

"If I see her then I'll make sure she goes to see you," Eugene suggests.

"Just let her know we need to see her as soon as possible. There is a dress in my room we left for her. Let her know that she needs to wear that and the tiara in her room. Cassandra will give her a pair of shoes from her closet. Don't tell her, but we planned a welcome home party for her. That's why we've been looking for her all morning," Dad explains.

"I'll make sure all that happens if I see her," Eugene promises.

"Very well. Cassandra, even though you're Rapunzel's Lady in Waiting, I want you to make sure Eugene is dressed for the party in new clothes as well. Once you are ready then I want you to meet me in my office. Either Cassandra or one of the other many servants I have employed can direct you to there," Dad tells Eugene. I hear footsteps leave the room.

"You can come out from hiding," Eugene whispers. I scurry out from under the cramped space, and sit back on the bed next to him.

"I haven't gotten a chance to meet him yet, so I don't know if he'd be okay with me hanging out with you or anything. Because of your past as Flynn Rider I know he doesn't like you," I tell Eugene looking at the concerned look on his face.

"Okay," he tells me not interested in the topic anymore.

"Well, sounds like I have a party to get ready for," I chirp cheerfully getting off the bed.

"Okay, so I was given some things that should be your size, plus a pair of boots to go with it. I was told that if nothing fit then I was to bring you to the royal tailor," the girl who was calling me earlier says entering the room. I turn to see a girl about my age with ebony colored hair that's at least as short as mine with a few curls mixed into her hair as if she began to curl her hair and suddenly gave up. She has a fair complexion with dark eyeliner, and slightly red lipstick. She's wearing a simple light blue dress with long sleeves that goes down to the floor and a hennin. Her eyes widen when she sees me.

"Hi, I'm Princess Rapunzel," I tell her.

"I have been looking for you the past ten minutes! Where have you been?" the girl demands.

"Funny, in the stories I read the princess is the one demanding people around," I tell her half sarcastically. I must have spent way too much time with Eugene because his sarcasm has rubbed off on me.

"I'm allowed to do that sometimes. It's why I'm being paid. My name is Cassandra, and I'm your lady in waiting," she tells me coolly.

"Well, I will get ready for the party she knows about, and you can make sure that she's ready and let her dad know that she's been exploring the castle or something. Both of us don't know how he feels about a wanted thief and his daughter being together," Eugene tells Cassandra in hopes that she calms down knowing what's actually been going on.

"Where has she actually been?" Cassandra asks skeptically.

"In here. We were talking about last night and the events that lead to me sleeping in my parents room, and then how I came in here because I woke up with both of them gone," I tell her.

"You both love each other. Don't you?" she continues to interrogate.

"Yes," Eugene tells her. I nod in agreement.

"I won't tell the king you were in here. I'll tell him that you accidentally locked yourself in your closet or bathroom or something," she says as if I'm dumb enough to do something like that. Clearly, she just downright hates me.

"Thank you," I sigh looking back over at Eugene. At least she understands us.

"Nevertheless, he has to meet with the king and I have to make sure you're ready. Let's go Princess Rapunzel," Cassandra exclaims practically dragging me to my room. I practically mock her words are she drags me down the hall. Once in my room she glares at me.

"What?" I ask innocently.

"I'm not stupid. I know you were mocking me," Cassandra responds walking into my closet. She comes out with flat shoes and a tiara. The tiara Eugene stole from here when he was Flynn Rider.

"I would never do something that childish," I lie. Wow, maybe I need to spend less time with Eugene because he's turned me into a liar with sarcasm.

I change into my dress, and within an hour I'm outside celebrating my arrival home with the rest of the kingdom.

The little girls that braided my hair are playing with Pascal, feeding him different fruits so that he changes color. He comes back over to me, and my parents hug me closely. I almost don't want to let them go, but the people are anxious to meet me so I let go of their hands. A little girl hands me a flower, and I put it in her hair. She hugs me and I wave to her sister who is no older than one year old. I'm suddenly aware that there is nothing on my head. When did my tiara fall off? I look over at Eugene who is standing next to me trying to look innocent, but I can see right through him. I hold my hand out to him letting him know that I know he has my tiara. He pretends to give it to me, then holds it above my head. I grab him and dip him before rolling my eyes and kiss him. While we kiss he places my tiara on my head.

When we stop kissing he takes my hand and we walk around the kingdom talking to townspeople. He looks a little uneasy talking to people. Probably because he isn't use to walking around someplace where everyone is judging him for what his past was like. I didn't even know what it was like. All he told me it was he use to read the tales of Flynnagan Rider to the younger kids when he was little. He also told me he was an orphan, but it's all I know about him.

The party literally lasts a week, and it all goes by in a blur. Eugene nor I remember any of it.

I wake up thinking I am hearing voices trying to talk to me in my dreams or something.

"Rapunzel," a voice tells me. I open my eyes to see Eugene.

"Hi," I say giving him a smile.

"Come downstairs," he says.

In confusion I get up and quickly brush my teeth before I meet Eugene downstairs.

"What do you want me to do?" I ask putting my purple flats on.

"No, no, no, no, no. Put these on," he says handing me a pink box. I take the box and open it.

"Whoa, they're beautiful. How did you get these?" I ask.

"I got the money from your dad when he gave me the reward money for bringing you home. That was after I was forgiven for my past life as Flynn Rider. I- I don't know if they are the right size or not," he rambles. I put a light purple pair of socks and the pink shoes on.

"I- I don't know how to tie my shoes. Gothel always tied anything that needed to be tied. Will you teach me?" I ask.

"Absolutely," he says looking into my eyes. His chocolate brown eyes give off a small sparkle. He brings up this rabbit and loop thing and says it while tying my shoe. He sighs and I watch in wonder as he takes the white laces of my pink sneakers and ties my shoes. He leads me outside and into the pouring rain.

"Is this safe?" I ask.

"I've done this a billion times at the orphanage. Granted I got into a lot of trouble," Eugene says with a charming smile on his face. I take his hands in mine and he twirls me.

We spend what feels hours dancing in the cold, pouring rain.

"Oh my gosh! Eugene, this is so much fun!" I tell him. My hair clings to my face in a stringy mess, but I don't care.

"You look so beautiful right now," he tells me. I giggle and we dance in the rain until the bells chime 10am.

"This is awesome!" I squeal. I notice some of the townspeople looking curiously at Eugene and I. Not everyone giving us the "that's so cute" look, but the "this is childish behavior that needs to be stopped at once" look instead.

"Uh, Rapunzel? We should go inside before your parents come looking for us," Eugene says.

"I guess we should. We don't want them to worry. What if they are awake? You're going to get me in so much trouble," I say.

"I'm going to get you in trouble?" Eugene asks accusingly.

"As a matter of fact yes because this was your brilliant idea," I say trying not to smile. He puts his hands around my waist and pulls me close to him.

"What do you know about trouble?" he asks. We are a couple of inches apart from each other, but while I feel scared I also feel excited.

"Eugene, if I were to ask my parents what trouble means they would give me a dictionary with your name next to it or your picture. I wonder if they would give me a wanted poster of you and say "this is what trouble means" then I would tell you "I told you so" then they'd be grossed out when the former wanted thief kisses their precious daughter," I respond. He smiles then kisses me softly on the lips then pulls away.

"Hey, Rapunzel? You might want to take this inside. Your parents are coming downstairs," Cassandra calls out to us from under a dry area. Is she trying to make sure Eugene and I don't get in trouble? Why would she do this?

"Let's go inside," he says. I nod and we go inside. We both begin to panic when we hear the voice of my mom and we run as soon as her and my dad are within our sight. Hopefully we aren't in their line of sight.

"Rapunzel!" Mom calls out to me as we run. I look back to see Cassandra shrug. I have no idea if she's talking to my mom or wondering what Eugene and I are running from.

"We were caught!" I say when we get to my room. Eugene gives me a strange look when he realizes that I shut the door. I change into a different pink dress and dry my hair with a towel.

"What did you shut the door for?" Eugene asks.

"So I could change. Are you worried?" I ask walking toward him flirtatiously.

"Me, worried? Puh-lease. Of coarse not," he says. I take his hands and put them around my waist. My hand go on his chest and I feel the dampness from the rain on his shirt. He leans in to kiss me when there is a knock at my door.

"Rapunzel?" Mom asks. Eugene and I begin to panic and I shove Eugene into my bathroom. Suddenly the door opens and Mom walks in with Cassandra behind her.

"Hey!" I say cheerfully putting on my purple flats. Wait a second. How did they get back in my room? She gives me a kind smile and rolls her eyes.

"I found those downstairs and brought them up here," Cassandra informs me as I take more than a second to look at my shoes. I still don't like wearing them.

"Eugene, I know that you are in here," she says.

"That was amazing! How did you know he was in here? Gothel wouldn't be able to do that!" I say. Eugene stands next to me with wet hair and damp clothes from the rain.

"I called your name when I saw you running in from playing and kissing in the rain. Oh, and I also asked Cassandra where you were going and why," she says.

"You're good. Cassandra, you're just a tattle-tale," Eugene says. His face is a slight shade of pink most likely like mine. I can feel my face becoming hot.

"How did you know about that we were heading here?" I ask.

"It was either your room or his," Cassandra scoffs.

"It also takes practice, when you're a mom, and I saw you both from my window after I woke up. Knew it would be smart to ask Cassandra where you were going and why," Mom says. We share looks of guilt and I give her a small smile.

"I hope you were the only one who saw. I don't know what Dad thinks of Eugene and I. I'm not sure Dad likes him, and it's worrying me," I say putting my head on his chest.

"Its probably because he was a thief, but I think in a good amount of time when you both have dated for a bit then Eugene will most likely get Thomas's blessing on the marriage. He can be stubborn at times, but that's where you get it from. I know for a fact that you're a good person Eugene because I see how you act when around Rapunzel. Anyway, Eugene, you should probably get dressed in something dry. Rapunzel, you will follow me," Mom says.

Eugene meets us at the stairs within five minutes. As we go down I think about what Mom said about Dad accepting the fact I'm with Eugene when and if we marry. I didn't know Dad was like that.

"Who is this?" a girl demands. She is in her teenage years and has long brown hair that resembles my mom's only her hair is in a braid.

"This girl is Anne, your sister," Mom says.

"Wait a second, Rapunzel has a sister?" Eugene asks. Mom nods.

"WHAT!" I practically scream.

"Rapunzel, calm down," Eugene tells me quietly.

"Anne, this is Rapunzel your sister," Mom tells the girl.

"Oh yes, the long lost sister. The lost princess," the girl says turning back to her cereal. She was not only rude, but I am supposed to be related to her? This whole sister thing is gonna be difficult. "Calm down Anne! You have too much enthusiasm!" Cassandra tells my sister sarcastically. I quickly eat a bowl of Lucky Charms, cereal first then the marshmallows. As soon as I finish eating I realize that Eugene is starting at me.

"If we're going to be together you have to understand that I eat the marshmallows last. It's the best part,"I tell him. He smiles and takes my hand from under the table. I give off a small squeal because it was so unexpected. I explain it was my imagination, but give Eugene a small kick for scaring me. He returns a sly smile after I take his hand.

"Rapunzel, when Anne was three we hosted this annual ball, called March Day Spring Time Ball. It's going to be tomorrow. We would love to introduce you to some people," Mom says.

"I will be there if Eugene is there," I say giving him a smile.

"I guess I could be there if it's okay with you Your Highness," he says.

"Eugene, first of call me Primrose. Secondly you can most definitely come. The more the merrier," Mom says giving the both of us a smile.

Eugene and I spend the day helping the staff decorate. We end up going to bed at midnight.


	3. Chapter 3

I wake up the next morning to Mom telling me that the ball starts in 20 minutes. Apparently Cassandra came up to wake me up an hour ago. It hurts to stand and I really try to be my normal self. It doesn't seem to go well.

"Rapunzel, this is Prime Minister's wife Alena," Mom says.

"Yes, and we are expecting a girl. We are going to name her Mildred," Alena says proudly placing a hand on her big, pregnant belly. I smile and suddenly something doesn't feel right. Eugene seems to notice that too.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"Excuse me," I say running up the stairs stumbling a little bit. I reach my room and the balcony outside. I collapse on the balcony with the world feeling like it's spinning, and Eugene is right behind me. I was wrong, the fresh air doesn't seem to help me at all.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"No," I say trying to stay calm.

"What's going on?" Cassandra demands entering my room.

"Come here," he says picking me up.

"What's wrong?" Dad asks entering my bedroom. Alena and Mom behind him.

"She's burning up. I think she maybe running a fever," Eugene says after putting me on my bed. "Primrose, dear? I'll be downstairs," Alena says rushing out of my room. Mom takes my temperature and the thermometer reads 103.1.

"Is that a bad?" I ask. Eugene looks at me and nods.

"Very bad," he responds.

"You're lucky if we don't call for the royal doctor," Cassandra tells me in a serious voice.

"Don't worry, I'm here for you," Eugene says taking my shoes from me. I give him a weak smile and get pain in my stomach like someone is stabbing me.

"Eugene, I'm going to die. I'm not ready to die," I tell him.

"No, you aren't going to die," he says with a small smile.

"Thomas, what are we going to do about her? This is probably the first time she's been sick," Mom says. I nod.

"If you're okay with it I can stay with her," Eugene says.

"No," Dad answers.

"That's fine with us. Thomas, we need to go back downstairs," Mom says.

"Prim, I think we should be with our daughter," Dad says.

Is this how a married couple acts? How parents act? If it is then I won't stand a chance if Eugene and I have a future together.

"Dad, it'll be fine. Trust him. Well, actually because you don't trust him trust me," I say weakly. He looks at me and sighs.

"I do trust you. I just don't trust him. Eugene, the only reason I don't trust you is because you were once wanted and because of that there is trust issues," Dad says.

"I guess I can understand that," Eugene responds. Guys are not only weird, but are also a bunch of pains.

"Thomas, Eugene can take care of her and we can check on her every hour. Cassandra can even keep an eye on the both of them if it will help you sleep tonight and enjoy the party," Mom says dragging Dad out of the room.

"You guys are a pain in the neck," I say as Eugene sits next to me. He lets me put my head on his shoulder as he begins to tell about the story of Eugene Fitzherbert/ Flynn Rider. Cassandra listens from a chair in the corner of my room near my latest book collection.

It turns out Eugene only knew his mom until she died when he was three, and when he was four his mom's best friend who was also his best friend for a year at this point had died shorty after his half sister Ava was born. He tells me he thought about having her come with him, but she was too young to travel when he ran away at eight years old. I fall asleep before I can hear the rest. I'm surprised I heard as much as I did. My make up stays on as does the dress I wore to the party.

When I wake up Eugene is sleeping peacefully next to me. I can't think of anything else, but how charming he looks. His light snoring doesn't bother me. Cassandra is also asleep and she had taken off that hennin she always seems to wear. Her hair was pretty when it wasn't pinned back. She has short, dark hair that had a few curls in it probably from being pinned back.

"Eugene," I say in a whisper looking back at Eugene. I pretend to be asleep when the door to my room opens.

"See Primrose? I knew we couldn't trust him," Dad says.

"Relax Thomas. They are just sleeping. The poor thing was sick yesterday remember? Besides, Cassandra was in the room the entire time" Mom reminds him pulling the pastel pink blanket on my bed over me and Eugene. I feel Mom's hand on my forehead.

"Of course I remember. So many people asked where she was because they wanted to finally meet her before the coronation next week. She is going to be the crowned princess in a week," Dad tells Mom.

"She feels cooler than yesterday, perhaps her fever went away," Mom says.

"I'll admit it Primrose, they do look peaceful, but I think a rule we need to have is that they are not to be in the same room until after they eventually marry. If they even get married. Let's face it, they haven't even started dating," Dad says.

"I know. She does love him though if you haven't noticed. You do have Cassandra watching them. I doubt anything would happen though unless they wanted to both have a cold," Mom says. Before they leave Dad kisses my head and leaves.

I kiss Eugene's cheek as soon as they leave and put my head back on his chest. Suddenly I feel Eugene stroking my hair, and before I realize it I'm asleep again. Eugene and I spend almost the entire day in my room with Cassandra babysitting again. The cheerios I have for breakfast don't agree with me so I end up throwing them up, and Eugene takes care of me. Dad no longer minds that he's taking care of me. That should be a good thing. Either he's trusting Eugene or it's because Cassandra is chaperoning us. As I fall asleep I hear Eugene tell me that we're going into town to as long as I feel better and he already asked Dad because he thought it was the easiest way to get him to earn Dad's trust and get on his good side. I close my eyes and fall asleep to the steady sound of Eugene's breathing.

Eugene wakes me up and has a thermometer in his hand. When he takes my temperature it reads 98.6. I rather sleep more than find out the results.

"Your temp is back to normal," he says sitting across from me on my bed after placing the thermometer on my night table.

"I thought I heard voices as I was passing by. How are you feeling?" Dad asks entering my bedroom. Cassandra is no where to be seen.

"Give me another hour and I'll let you know," I say lying down again.

"Did you forget that the party is today? The welcoming ceremony for all the other royals?" Dad reminds me.

"Are people arriving yet?" I ask.

"No, but-" Dad starts to say, but I cut him off.

"I'll be fashionably late. Wake me up when they arrive," I say.

"Princess Rapunzel?" Cassandra asks.

"Sleeping!" I respond under my covers and pillow.

"King Thomas, other royalty are arriving. What rooms do I show them to when they get here?" Cassandra asks.

"Rapunzel! You're fashionably late. Any of the rooms that don't belong to me and Queen Primrose, Anne, the one Eugene is in, or this room," Dad says. Someone I assume is either Eugene or Cassandra is trying to take me blankets off me.

"You won't win!" I say glaring at Cassandra.

"You're doing this all wrong," Eugene tells Cassandra. Suddenly Eugene is tickling me. I take my pillow and hit him with it.

"You both are annoying," I say to my almost boyfriend and lady in waiting.

"Nice hair style," I hear Eugene comment. I get up and look in my full length mirror and see the fancy dress I wore to the ball two days ago and I'm hardly wearing any make up, and my hair is wild and crazy.

"Well, I'm totally ready for the ball," I say sarcastically.

"Okay, everyone out! You have exactly twenty-five minutes to be ready and outside greeting the other royals so let's move," Cassandra says ushering everyone out the door.

Within the next twenty-five minutes I have gotten ready in what could have taken me an hour on any other day. The day seems to both speed by and go so slow, that by the end of the night I am so tired that I can barely get ready for bed because all I want to do is collapse onto my nice warm bed. I force Eugene to talk to me while I get ready for bed, but as I enter into my room after taking my makeup off I see he has fallen asleep on my bed while I was talking. I can't really blame him. We met so many princes and princesses and dukes and duchesses and other types of royals. Some were kind even though they looked snooty, and others were just the rudest people I had ever met. I look at Eugene and kiss his forehead and fall asleep with my head on his chest, while listening to his heartbeat.

"What's going on in here?!" Cassandra asks waking me up.

"Cass, do you have any idea what time it is?" I respond. I wake up to see Eugene right next to me. _That's_ why Cassandra came in here to wake us up. I sit up to see her panicking in front of me.

"Yeah, a quarter after 10am. I'm asking what _he's_ doing next to you! You have any idea what would happen to any of us if either the king or queen would do if they walked in right now? My dad finds out and I could get either him or the both of us in trouble!" Cassandra panics.

"And why would us being in the same room get your dad in trouble? Do the king and queen hate him or something?" Eugene asks sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Nope, quite opposite. He is the Captain of the Guards!" she announces.

"Your dad is the Captain of the Guards?" Eugene clarifies.

"He would talk about you often. Of course it was always something along the lines of 'I swear one day I'll catch that darn Flynn Rider, and maybe I can be promoted. Especially if we get rid of Flynn Rider _and_ find the princess'. I'd then have to remind him that it is likely to catch you, but the odds of finding you were one and a million. I would also remind him that being Captain of the Guards there is no promotion," Cassandra informs us.

"I thought the both of you were spending time in town today," Mom asks from the doorway of my room.

"Your Highness! I promise that I-," Cassandra begins to say spinning around she almost trips.

"Eugene slept in here and now she's freaking out because she doesn't want to get her or her dad fired," I tell Mom.

"All I asked was if you were going into town before the events we are doing with the other royals. If you are then you only have until one o'clock. I wouldn't have said anything about him being in here as long as you both were only sleeping, and because I trust you Rapunzel I'm going to believe you when you tell me what happened," Mom says. She's being so chill about this.

"I made him come in here and talk to me so I could take off my jewelry and makeup at the very least before going to bed. We were talking and he fell asleep while I was talking, and I didn't have enough energy to wake him up," I tell Mom.

"Can't argue with that because that could happen. We were up pretty late last night," Mom says shrugging her shoulders before sitting across from me on my bed.

"So, we can still go into town? Dad won't find out about this? If you don't trust him then we could take Cassandra with us. As long as I can be with him and both, you and Dad, can sleep at night," I tell Mom.

"Thank you for not hating us over this. You know, your father just wants to start right back where he couldn't. He wants to start back on that night that you were taken from us," Mom says. I give her a hug and within a half hour Eugene and I are racing down to the stables to Max and Sophie, my new horse.

"Wanna race?" I ask completely bored of going at a super slow speed for an entire five minutes. I watch as a sly smirk crosses his face.

"Your body guard might not like it," he jokes. I look back to see my lady in waiting, Cassandra. She pays no attention to me or Eugene. The two of us could be in a lip-locked embrace and she wouldn't notice.

"Hey, I won't tell if you don't tell. Have fun lovebirds," she teases looking up at the both of us. We give each other strange looks before I urge Sophie to run. Before I know it Eugene is behind me. I look back over to him racing over dangerous trees that had fallen. A panic look crosses his face.

"Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Rapunzel!" he keeps shouting urgently. I barely miss being hit by a tree branch. That was close!

"Think you can keep up?" I ask boldly. He gives me a fake laugh.

"I bet that I can beat you at your own game," he says making Max run faster than Sophie.

"We can't let Eugene and Max win Sophie," I tell the horse. She slows down and almost bucks me off of her.

"Hey Rapunzel, think _you_ can keep up with Max and I," he jokes.

"Eugene! Wait!" I shout. He turns to look at me and turns Max around. Cassandra quickly catches up with the both of us. Three guards behind her. It takes Cassandra a few seconds to calm her down. Eugene watches ready to catch me if I fall. Max already had to catch Pascal.

"Sophie is new to the palace. She was abandoned and forced to do some horse racing. She was hurt and abandoned when she lost her last race. My dad was the one that saved her and brought her here to Corona last time your dad met with another kingdom," Cassandra explains. The guards catch up to the three of us.

"Are you alright Princess Rapunzel?" one of the guards asks me.

"I'm okay, I just think that Sophie just wants to go back home or something. Maybe instead of racing Eugene and I could just walk around town," I suggest.

"Okay, but we'll have to make sure the king is fine with that," guard one says moving a couple of feet back so Eugene, Cassandra, and I could go in front of him and the other guards.

"That's Conli. Last I heard he's the Second in Command. First in Command is Cassandra's dad," Eugene informs me.

"So, how do you know my dad again?" Cassandra asks Eugene. It's hard to tell if she's teasing him or not.

"Two words. Flynn Rider," I joke.

"Oh, you are so funny. Flynn Rider was a legend. The best thief ever," Eugene mocks me. I give him a charming smile, and he looks away from me so I can't see.

"Yeah, but if he was so awesome then why did he get caught and need thugs to help him escape?" Cassandra challenges him.

"First of all, I was knocked out and tied to the mast of a ship by two brothers I used to work with. They were twins that knew how sneakily I was. Second of all, they were ruffians not thugs," Eugene clarifies.

We get back to the castle and find Dad talking to the captain of the guard and four other dressed up men. They watch us ride to the stables before coming to a sudden halt.


	4. AN

Hey all! Haven't been able to upload because of work and school. I also have a big trip coming up next week so I've been crazy busy with that. I'm hoping to upload the chapter I'm working on before I leave for school the day I leave for my trip (spoiler alert, it's a long chapter). I am so sorry. I feel really bad for not getting enough time to upload my story.


	5. Chapter 4

_Hi guys! So sorry this chapter is so late. I've been working a lot lately and school is taking up a lot of time as well. I've been so overwhelmed and exhausted from work that I've had a bit of writers block due to lack of sleep and what feels like lack of oxygen to my brain. And of course it's been busy and work rules are that you can't have your phone out unless it's an emergency, but I promise you that I'm writing every chance I get. I would've published this last chapter as soon as I was on vacation, but I didn't end up going because of work and school. So, hope you all enjoy this chapter and I hope to publish another amazing chapter to follow this one. Hope this long chapter makes up for the long wait._

"You're back early," Dad comments.

"Sophie wasn't feeling like racing. I also wanted to eat because I skipped breakfast," I realize.

"Before the both of you go, Princess Rapunzel, this is Lord David Stanton, and his son Bastin. There is also Nigel, our Adviser. He was out of town taking care of his nieces and nephews while his sister and husband took care of his aging mother and father the past two months. We also have in the palace your Uncle Monty. He just arrived a few minutes ago, and he's going to be at dinner tonight. Lastly, we have our newest guard," Dad starts to introduce.

"Lance Strongbow," Eugene gasps.

"You guys are still hiring more guards?" Cassandra jokes.

"A kingdom is never "too safe" Cassandra," Captain of the Guard informs his daughter.

"It was kidding," she scoffs.

"Anyway, how do you know Lance Strongbow?" Dad asks Eugene interrupting the father/ daughter argument before it even begins.

"Hold on a second, Flynn Rider? What are you doing here?" Lance asks Eugene.

"Lance and I were best friends before I went to work with the Stabbington Brothers. We even grew up in the same orphanage," Eugene explains to us.

"Nice to meet you Lance. And Lord Stanton, Bastin, and Nigel. Lance, I'm Princess Rapunzel, Eugene's girlfriend," I inform him even though it wasn't entirely true. Dad gives me a strange look because this seemed like news to him.

"Who are you dating? Is he another guard?" he asks me politely.

"Oh, yeah. It's Eugene now. I'm going by my real name now," Eugene says.

"I forgot that Flynn wasn't your real name. When did you change your name? When you were eight?" Lance teases.

"Four or five," Eugene tells him seriously.

"So, let's get inside because I'm sure Monty is wondering how long it takes to show the stables to someone who is going to be taught by the best guards I have ever met. No guards are as excellent as the ones I have employed," Dad says leading us to the castle.

Once inside we meet a man at the door of the castle talking with Mom.

"Rapunzel, this is your uncle, Monty. Monty, this is your niece, Rapunzel and her _boyfriend,_ Eugene," Dad introduces saying boyfriend as if it was an unpleasant word.

"Actually, when we get the chance Rapunzel, I need to talk to you about that," Eugene announces giving me an odd look.

"What's there to talk about? I thought that race counted as a first date," I tell him teasingly.

"We'll talk about that later," he reassures me.

"You kids remind me of when Thomas and I were just getting engaged," Mom says to us.

"How? You and Thomas were betrothed to each other from your day of birth, and the day the both of you were engaged you tried to run away. Thomas caught you sneaking out and then the two of you went to the forest where your horses got spooked and left to go back to the palace. I found them in the middle of town, and had to drag them back to the royal stables with father's help. If I remember correctly, you both fell in love after being stuck in the forest for three days!" Uncle Monty explains.

"Well that sounds a little like the two of us," I say seriously.

"Monty, you weren't supposed to tell anyone that! You promised that it was a story you'd take to your grave," Mom tells Uncle Monty.

"Is that why when you both are around Mum and Dad you act like you hate each other?" Uncle Monty asks.

"This is so confusing," Cassandra finally says.

"Neither of them know that we married because we were in love," Mom tells him.

"I hate to break up this, but my question is why Rapunzel said it sounds like her and Eugene," Dad tells Uncle Monty and Mom.

"Good question. How did your uncle's story sound like the both of you?" Mom asks.

"We told you the night I came home. When he broke into my home in the forest to escape Maximus because something happened to Cassandra's dad, I hit him in the head with a frying pan, and then we made a deal that involved him bringing me here to Corona so I could watch you both send the lantern into the sky. We hated each other with every bone in our body, but we fell in love the first night we were together. I remember that because he hurt his hand, but I helped heal his hand with the magic hair I used to have. I remember him giving me a look that looked like love, but I didn't know that was it until we almost kissed on my birthday. He was captured and sent to the castle and I went back to the tower where that evil woman who kidnapped me had gagged me and put me in chains. I thought his love for me was fake and it upset me because I was thinking that he was becoming my new best friend, next to Pascal of course, but then he came to the tower and saved me. He was stabbed by the woman and then he cut my hair so I couldn't save him. My hair lost its power once it was cut, and I used the last little bit of magic I had to save him. Now here we are once again telling you what happened," I tell everyone quickly because the part of that story where Eugene died, and I was able to bring him back to life my least favorite part of the story.

"What an imagination she has," Uncle Monty tells Mom and Dad. A surprised look across his face. Mom and Dad give me a look that says "you really shouldn't have said that".

"Cassandra, can you make sure that dinner will be ready in time for the banquet?" Mom asks. Cassandra nods and walks towards the kitchen and we begin talking to other royalty once more. As soon as Cassandra comes back I get sent to my room where she helps me get ready for the banquet. I wear a simple pink dress with sparkles on the skirt and sheer long sleeves. I'm forced to wear shoes, and after twenty-seven minutes of arguing about why I need to wear shoes if I have to wear a long ball gown type dress Cassandra and I compromise on me wearing my purple flats even though my dress is pink not purple.

"Announcing the Princess Rapunzel and her guest, Eugene," a man announces forty-one minutes after Mom and Dad sent me and Eugene to get ready. He takes my hand and that takes me by surprise. I look at his hand entwined in mine, then to his face. He gives me his dashing smile.

"Just breathe. There is no need to panic or feel nervous. You will be great," he assures me.

"But, I could mess this up. I'm not just representing myself. I have to represent Mom, Dad, the _entire_ kingdom of Corona, and I can't mess this up," I panic.

"Hey! It's gonna be alright. You told me that before I _died_. Everything turned out alright in the end," he reminds me. He gives my hand a tight squeeze before we go down to the banquet to meet with everyone. For the first time since I arrived home I no longer start talking to people unless they talk to me. I feel like if I chime in on a conversation then it could ruin something or I could say something dumb. I could do something wrong.

About an hour and a half into the banquet Eugene goes over to Dad and asks permission to take me outside for no more than five minutes. It takes Mom to tell him that he should trust Eugene, and that it would be a good idea.

"You doing okay Zel?" he asks as soon as he closes the door.

"I keep thinking that- I don't think I'm cut out to be a princess. This is too much pressure and it makes me miss the tower a little bit. When I was a little girl I would pretend to be a princess and it seemed like the easiest thing ever. Now? Now I have to make sure I do everything correctly, and what to say and what not to say," I confess.

"I told you before we went downstairs that everything would be alright, and it will be. Take a deep breath and just be yourself. Okay?" he asks.

"Okay, I'll try. You're asking a lot because I'm not entirely sure I can do anything without thinking that I'll be judged and Mom and Dad will be passed off as the king and queen that have the worst kingdom because their crowned princess is a failure!" I tell him.

"Hey, Zel?" he asks.

"Yes?" I respond.

"You're panicking again. It's like you don't know how to relax. If you want, I can start a conversation or introduce you to people you don't know," he suggests.

"Yeah, that'd probably be best," I say giving him a small smile.

"Remember that time that we left your tower for the first time and you thought that the little bunny was a ruffian or a thug? I told you it would be best if we avoided ruffians and thugs and you said 'yeah, that'd probably be best' in that same tone? It feels like just yesterday that it happened," he tells me reminiscently.

"I can't believe that it was a month ago already," I tell him.

"Why don't we go back inside? Everything will be fine. I think that you could even make some new friends. I doubt everyone in there is stuck up. The ones around your age could get together and maybe if Cassandra is nice enough she can help you throw a sleepover. From what I heard growing up no one cared how you acted and you could be yourself," Eugene suggests.

"That sounds fun!" I exclaim.

We head back inside and Cassandra's standing by the door like Dad would've been had Mom not persuaded him to trust me because it's obvious that he can't trust Eugene.

"What were you doing out there?" she interrogates.

"Freaking out," Eugene responds.

"We were talking," I tell her.

"Rapunzel wanted to ask you a question. She was talking about you helping her throw a sleepover tonight. The both of you could get a few others and host it after the banquet," Eugene informs Cassandra.

"I can't. Besides, you both wouldn't have gone outside to talk about that. What exactly were you talking about?" Cassandra presses on.

"I told you. Panicking, then we started talking about that. Why won't you help Rapunzel? I can't help because I'm not a girl and I know nothing about sleepovers," Eugene informs Cassandra.

"I already told you I can't," she responds.

"Eugene, why don't you tell my mom I want to talk to her? I think I'd like to talk with Cassandra," I tell Eugene.

"Okay," he says before kissing me on the cheek and leaving.

"Cass? Cass, do you not want to help me with this because you never got one?" I ask.

"I rather not talk about it here," she tells me avoiding eye contact.

"Well, neither have I, but we can get Anne to help, and it'll be fun! Come on! Wanna join us?" I ask her.

"I don't know," she says.

"Please?" I beg.

"Rapunzel, growing up I wasn't exactly the kind of girl that went to sleepovers. I mean, I'm still in high school! I graduate in a couple months and prom is next month! No one has asked me to go with them, and I doubt anyone will," Cassandra vents to me quietly.

"You've never had a sleepover," I conclude.

"No," she whispers.

"If it helps, I've never had one either," I tell her.

"Rapunzel, you also lived in a secluded tower your whole life where it was amazing that that dummy you're with found it," Cassandra scoffs.

"So? I no longer live there, so I can do stuff like that. I can have friends that can actually talk to me! No offense Pascal," I tell the chameleon on my shoulder. He pouts and then jumps into the planter next to us. Mom and Allena join the both of us.

"Rapunzel, Eugene said that you wanted to talk to me. Is everything alright?" Mom asks me very worriedly.

"Cassandra and I are getting a few other princesses together and we're having a sleepover, but I have no idea how to host a party, let alone a slumber party. Would you help us? Eugene said it would help me because I've been nervous about making a fool of myself. I keep thinking I could say the wrong thing then I could end up being the worst queen ever and then all of Corona could hate me," I tell her. The feeling of panic had returned once again. Where did Eugene go?

"Yeah, of course I'll help you. I'm sure Eugene already told you, but all you have to do is be yourself. If no one likes you for who you are then they need to get over themselves," Mom explains. I give her a hug, and notice Allena looking a bit stunned at the sight.

"Thanks, Mom!" I tell her noticing Eugene coming back over to where I was.

"Hey, so I have at least four or five princesses in the Disney Society willing to hang out with you for a slumber party. They were surprised that you wanted to do something like that because they were thinking that you didn't like them. I also almost broke out six fights because people thought I were hitting on the girls. That's why one of them said no," Eugene informs me.

"You're pretty dumb," Cassandra insults Eugene.

"What's the Disney Society?" I ask.

"You were aware that there is a movie being made about you, weren't you? It takes place from the day you were born to the day you came back. It mentions the week long party, but that's it. I told you while you were taking your make up off last night," he tells me.

"There's where you went wrong. I was in another room, and I was also tired," I inform him. Mom leads me towards some people and one of them include a woman with a huge wig with what looks like twelve big bows at least.

"I'm Duchess Veronica. I was born to Amelia Ruthford and Charles Ruthford the third. You must be Princess Rapunzel," the woman with the large wig says as soon as Mom and I approach the group. I give her a slight nod.

"Princess Rapunzel?" a woman's soft voice calls out. I turn to see a woman with blonde hair like mine used to be tightly pinned back into a bun and an extraordinary blue dress on. She looks a little snooty. I look to Cassandra giving her a look asking if it was too late to cancel the slumber party. She doesn't understand me at all.

"Yes?" I ask giving her a fake smile. She gives someone to my left a look as if she was asking them "who invited you?"

"I just wanted to make sure that the rumor about you having a sleepover for us Disney princesses tonight was true. The other girls and I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't this creepy guy wanting a hook up," the girl says.

"Did this creep look handsome with chocolate brown eyes, and wavy brown hair?" I ask.

"Yes. Ariel suggested that he snuck into the place, and he was running from the mental hospital. He's a guest of yours?" the girl asks in bewilderment.

"He lives here. That guy was asking if you wanted to attend a sleepover because I asked him to. He's my boyfriend," I inform her.

"Oh!" is all she can seem to say.

"Hey Babe," Eugene whispers into my ear after wrapping his arms around my waist. I can't help but smile. He's never called me "babe" before and it's kinda hot.

"Hi," I tell him trying not to giggle.

"How's it going?" he asks.

"Well, according to her friend, Ariel, everyone started thinking you were an escaped metal patient or looking for someone to hook up with," I explain to him.

"I only want to be with you," he promises holding me a little tighter.

"I don't believe I caught your name," I tell the girl watching me and Eugene. I try to pry Eugene's arms away from me before Mom or Dad tell me that it's not right for us to act like teenagers even though I am a teenager.

"My name is Cinderella," the girl says.

"That's a pretty name," I tell her.

"Why thank you," she responds keeping an eye on Eugene.

"Cinderella!" a red head calls out coming towards the three of us.

"Princess Rapunzel, this is Princess Ariel. Ariel, this is Princess Rapunzel and the man that asked us about that sleepover," Cinderella explains to the red head- Ariel.

"Sorry if it seemed a bit strange meeting him the way you did. This is my boyfriend, Eugene," I inform Ariel. She looks at us with wide eyes.

"He's your boyfriend? Then why was he hitting on us and asking about a sleepover?" Ariel asks.

"I hope he wasn't hitting on you," I respond giving Eugene a look.

"I was not hitting on anyone. Except maybe you, but that's it," he promises me.

"You've been doing a lot of promising to me tonight," I tell him.

"I have? Well, just so you know, when I make a promise I never ever break that promise," he tells me with a straight face. Using my own words against me.

"I was the first one to say that, just so you know," I remind him.

"Why remind me? That's why I said that," he says to me with a small, devilish smile.

"So do you think you girls could come tonight or does tomorrow night work better?" I ask ignoring Eugene. He gives me a big kiss on the cheek before whispering that he'll see me in a few minutes. I watch him leave me and go over to Cassandra. He's probably going to bug her about the reason she said no to helping me.

"Tonight works fine as long as he won't be there," Ariel says.

"Ariel, she just said that he wasn't hitting on you," Cinderella tells her.

"It still doesn't make me less creeped out," she mumbles.

"This isn't going to win her acceptance into the Disney Society," Cinderella warns Ariel.

"Sorry, it's just I've seen other guys and fish hit on me or my sisters, and most of the time six of us are comforting someone because of that. Makes me worry even more because Eric and I have a daughter. Her name is Melody," Ariel explains.

"No one really explained what Disney Society is. What exactly is it?" I ask.

"You give Mickey your story and him and his friends get together and decide if they want to make it a movie. It's as if you were redoing your story in a movie. Last I heard, your movie was coming out soon. I think Mickey sent out the announcement last month. I've seen stuff about a movie called Tangled. That could be your movie, but I haven't seen much since last week," Cinderella tells me.

"We can talk more about it during the sleepover tonight," Ariel suggests. I give both girls a small smile and nod.

"Sounds like fun," I say.

The party finally winds down around midnight and I head to my room where Cinderella, Ariel, and three other girls are at my door with their pillows and blankets in their arms.

"There you are!" Cinderella exclaims.

"I'll be back in five or ten minutes," Cassandra sighs sounding exhausted.

"You can all come in here whenever Cassandra gets back. I have to change and make sure my room's ready for a sleepover because it's a last minutes thing. Let's not forget that I have the coronation in a couple days so I'll be in rehearsals from six am to noon so we can't stay up past one," I remind them. All five girls nod and I notice a couple of them have overnight bags.

"One is a few things each one of us wanted to bring and the other is one that your mom gave us," Ariel says noticing me staring at the bags.

"Okay, I'm back," Cassandra announces. I look over to see most of her hair is pulled up in a ponytail and she's wearing sweats and a hoodie.

"You have got to be the least girly girl I know," I tell her.

"Just be glad that I came back," Cassandra says.

"I guess I should be glad that you did. Alright, let's get this sleepover started," I tell everyone opening my bedroom door so that they could enter into the sleepover. I look over to where Eugene is across the hall. He's leaning against his door with his head resting against the door frame. I look over to see the party has already begun. When I turn to see Eugene once more I see he's already gone into his room. I slip away and before I know it I'm running to his room.

"Hi," I say softly.

"Hi," he answers back.

There is a moment of silence and I crawl onto his bed sitting right next to him.

"Did I really have to agree with you? Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure that the first sleepover I had was when you took care of me when I was sick. Do I really have to have this one?" I ask putting a hand on his shirt and tracing the buttons.

"You're the one who agreed! Besides, this is technically your first one because I was taking care of you when you were sick, and that shouldn't count," he tells me grabbing my hand. I must be getting annoying, and if he thinks I'm annoying then this relationship won't work out.

"What about that time after the others arrived and you fell asleep in my room?" I ask.

"Doesn't count," he says.

"And why not?" I demand.

"Because I say it doesn't," he responds trying not to smile.

"I don't know why I love you. You're annoying," I tell him with a face as serious as possible.

"I think I can live with it," he tells me equally as serious. I yank his pillow from behind him and smack him in the face with the pillow.

"You love me," I tell him with a smile.

"And I'm assuming that now that you're hopefully done terrorizing me you want me to walk you to the after party taking place in your room?" he asks me ignoring my question.

"I'd love that," I respond getting off his bed. He hurries over to my side, and taking my hand we walk to my room.

"In response to when you said 'you love me', I do. I really love you," Eugene says giving my hand a small squeeze.

"I really love you too," I tell him.

"So, what time do you have to be up for princess rehearsals tomorrow? I heard it was never from Cassandra, but I'm pretty sure she hates me so of course she would say that to me," he says.

"After tonight I'll finally know why she hates me," I tell him.

"Oh, of course! Girl talk. Ew," he says.

"It's already late. Eugene, don't make me go to rehearsals!" I whine.

"Sorry princess, but I can't because I'm not in charge of that. You gotta take it up with your dad," he says.

"Well, they're waiting for me in there," I announce to just Eugene gesturing to my bedroom door. He opens my door for me and I walk in past him, but before he can close the door I entwine my fingers in his hair and kiss him. Not in a good night way or anything, but the passionate kiss where it's almost like we're one. I feel his arms around my waist. We break apart and the room seems to be silent.

"Goodnight Eugene," I tell my boyfriend.

"Goodnight Zel. Sweet dreams," he tells me leaving. I walk over to my bed in a bit of a daze. I fall backwards onto my bed only thinking about Eugene and momentarily forgetting that I was hosting a sleepover.


	6. Another AN

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a long time. I've been working a lot and been without my laptop, and stress has taken a huge toll on me. At the moment I am working on moving into a new place, and I have been working two jobs. I've also run into slight writers block because I wasn't sure how to write a fan fiction with a sleepover, but it was a friend's idea and I decided to go with his idea. Again, I am so sorry for the late post and you all thinking I had abandoned this story. I have my graduation from high school coming up (#classof2017) and I hope to update at least two chapters before I walk. We'll see how that goes, and if I have to sacrifice sleep then I will because tbh, I am so sick of only working then eating and sleeping when I get home. I was lucky enough to get to go to prom as it is. Please keep waiting a little longer.


	7. Chapter 5

_Latest chapter is up! Again, I am so sorry it's been a couple months since I had the chance to upload. Hope you all enjoy this chapter._

"That was gross. No one wants to see you both making out at an all girls sleepover," Cassandra complains.

"Hate him if you want Cass, but I love him and he makes me happy," I tell her still in a daze.

"I don't hate him, but I do think he's someone you can't trust. I've been on that road a couple times before," she says laying down against some pillows on my bed.

"So, before we go to sleep I think we should swap stories. Why don't you start Cassandra?" I suggest. She gives me a slight glare.

"Actually, I think everyone wants to know yours. I'll go last," she says.

"Mine is simple. My mom was sick when she was pregnant with me and she was about to die when it was about to give birth to me. My dad had the kingdom search for a legendary magic flower that healed the sick and injured, but he didn't know it belonged to this woman named Gothel. When he took it she came to Corona where my mom had been healed and I was born. When I was born I had this long blonde hair. No one knew that it was magic except Gothel. Crazy right? Everyone celebrated by sending a lantern into the sky, but then that night I was kidnapped by Gothel. The next eighteen years I kept asking why I couldn't leave the tower, where my father was, simple and easy questions. She told me that the world is a dangerous place and that's why I couldn't leave, because people would want my long blonde hair. As for the father I lacked, she said that he jumped out of the tower or something. She never gave me a clear answer. Well, the day before my eighteenth birthday Eugene, going by Flynn Rider at the time, climbed into my window. I knocked him out with a frying pan, and then tied him up with my hair, keep in mind I had seventy feet of hair because it was magic. It was magical and glowed when I sang. It could heal the sick and injured, but what Gothel did is she used it to keep herself young. Anyway, I convinced Eugene to take me here to see the lights, I thought he abandoned me on my birthday, and then realized the day after my birthday I was the lost princess everyone was talking about. He saved me from Gothel and died after he cut my hair, the reason I'm brunette is because once cut my hair would turn brown and lose it's power. I only brought him back because the last time I sang to him I was crying and that tear brought him back to life," I explain. The room is silent for a moment.

"That is literally the most insane story I have ever heard," Cassandra finally tells me.

Ariel tells us that she used to be a mermaid, but became human to be with Eric and they had Melody. She had to deal with a sea witch who tried to marry Eric after she stole her voice.

Belle tells us that a guy named Gaston wanted to be with her and everyone thought she was weird because she was the only one in town that could read chapter books. She tells us how she wanted to go on grand adventures and when her father went missing she went to find him and ended up switching places so that while he went free she was a prisoner. She tells us how after about three long months her and this beast that kidnapped her had fallen in love and he had explained to her he was a prince under a magic curse, but he never told her how the curse would end because he was scared that she'd think that it was the reason she was his prisoner. Eventually, the two got married and the beast had turned back into a prince.

Tiana tells us how she always worked hard and when she met her husband. He had gone to visit Louisiana to marry a rich girl, her best friend since they were little girls. She went to a ball at her friend's house and kissed a talking frog. After going on a journey through a bayou to visit a hundred and ninety-seven, blind, voodoo lady, that lives in a boat in the bayou they travel back to New Orleans so he could kiss a princess and it happened to be her friend. Her friend wasn't actually a princess, but for one night she had the chance to be a princess and break the spell before midnight. Once it became midnight she was no longer able to break the spell. That night they also lost a friend that they made when they reached the bayou. The two eloped in the bayou where she became a princess and the spell was finally broken. They then had bought a restaurant where she finally had gotten her dream of opening a restaurant called "Tiana's Place". Her father died when she was thirteen during war so she never got to open it with him, but she managed to keep his memory alive even after her dream came true. I felt a tug on my heart strings when she mentioned her father was dead.

Cinderella tells us that her mom died when she was seven, and her father married a woman named Lady Termain. Lady Termain treated her stepdaughter like she was nothing and changed her name from Ella to Cinderella because on cold nights when she didn't want to walk up all the stairs she would sleep near a fire. When she awoke each morning after sitting by the fire's hearth she had cinders on her face causing one of her stepsisters to call her "Cinderella" and the response of her stepmother was that the girls were too clever for their own good. After meeting the prince in the woods and introducing himself as Kit, an accountant, she had wanted to see him again. That night she had sewn her mother's old dress into one she could wear to the ball so she could see Kit. Her stepsisters got mad that she used things that they no longer wanted for her dress, and when she ran out crying once they had left a woman had appeared and turned a pumpkin into a carriage, mice into horses, a dog into a footman, and her rags into an extraordinary dress. She even gave her shoes made of glass to wear instead of her old flats. She found out Kit was the prince and danced with him that night and as the clock stroke midnight she left in a hurry. She lost a shoe and within two days of the prince searching for her the duke and the Captain of the Guards in that kingdom had found her and then they were married. She was like Eugene, an orphan, and it hurt to think anyone could live without parents. As soon as I found my parents it was as if I couldn't live without them.

Snow White tells us how she was also an orphan. Her stepmother bought a magic mirror and upon asking it who the fairest in the land was it had one day told her that Snow White was the fairest. Her stepmother got jealous and set her huntsman out to kill the poor girl who was only fourteen. She ended up escaping and living in a house with seven dwarves. One day an old lady had given her an apple and put her in a sleeping spell only to end through true love's kiss. A year had passed and while in the woods the prince sees Snow White and kisses her ending the spell. We all agree that if she was dead then him kissing her would've been super creepy.

I look over to see Cassandra sound asleep. Well, she got out of telling her story this time this time. The rest of the night we paint each other's nails, and talking about our husbands (well, in my case boyfriend) before Ariel starts a pillow fight. We end up falling asleep with the lights on around two in the morning.

I wake up to a loud crash. It's only been an hour since we all went to sleep. I grab the frying pan I brought from the tower and everyone looks at me groggily. Half of them look shocked and the other half look at me as if I was crazy. Suddenly the lights cut off as if someone flipped the switch because of my frying pan I use as a weapon. Almost all of us either gasp or let out a small scream.

"Raps, what are you doing?" Cassandra asks breaking the silence. The room becomes lit up with an ominous light.

"Please tell you saw that light too!" I plead. It takes me a second to realize they probably did and I'm asking stupid questions out of pure exhaustion.

"Yes we did," Cassandra responds burying her face into her pillow.

"Are you girls alright?" Mom's voice asks through the darkness.

"What's going on? What happened to the power?" I ask before realizing it was yet again another stupid question. I walk toward the figure shaped like her over whoever was in the path.

"This is the first huge storm in the past twenty years here in Corona. It's knocked down things outside, shook the windows a bit, and even caused a power outage in at least the entire castle. I would imagine the entire kingdom to also be out of power as well," Mom explains as she sets down a few things on my makeup table with a clatter.

"The first huge storm in twenty years?" a high pitched voice asks. That must be Snow White because it sounds like such an innocent voice.

"Yep! If you get scared and want some light I have flashlights with fresh batteries for you," mom tells us. She picks up a flashlight to demonstrate how well they work, accidentally blinding me with it.

"I'm so sorry!" she apologizes.

"I'm sorta seeing spots, but I'm sure that's temporary," I reassure her. She gives me a quick hug before returning the flashlight to the table and leaving.

"It's three in the morning, so I suggest that we go back to sleep because Rapunzel and I need to be up and at rehearsals by six am. She's wearing heels to practice in and the next day as well, and I won't be the reason she breaks her leg the day before her coronation," Cassandra announces. I sigh and lay back on my bed, Pascal's silhouette on my night table. I look over to see everyone settling once more to go back to sleep. I slip the frying pan back under my bed and hurry out of my room to literally run into someone in the hallway. An object clatters to the floor.

"Crap," the voice says quietly as if they were trying to not wake anyone up.

"Sorry," I apologize helping pick up what had fallen. My hand touches the other person's hand, and I can feel myself start to smile.

"I didn't mean to bump into you. I guess I should've had my flashlight on," Eugene says taking my hand. I grab the flashlight with my other hand and shine it towards the ceiling. A grin of amusement crosses my face.

"So, were you coming to check on me?" I ask. Our lips just inches apart.

"Maybe," he answers leaning forward and kisses me. It's the kind of kiss that makes you not want to break away because you feel like you and your love are one. We break away and I bring him to his room and I begin to kiss him once more.

"I love you," I tell him.

"I love you too. You do have to go back to bed because if you don't get up on time then I'm going to get into trouble for keeping you up," he tells me.

"I'm pretty sleepy anyway," I agree getting up.

"Goodnight Princess," Eugene says softly.

"Goodnight Eugene," I tell him giving him one more kiss before leaving.

As I get into my room a flashlight shines on me. I see the other princesses, Cassandra, and Anne staring at me. I grab a flashlight and shine it back towards my sister and lady-in-waiting.

"I ran into someone in the hall," I tell them walking back to my bed.

"I didn't see you in the hall," Anne announces.

"So, you didn't see me. What's the big deal?" I ask getting settled into my bed once more. The subject is dropped and we all go back to sleep. The sound of the rain pattering lulls me to sleep.


	8. Chapter 6

_I feel like you guys hate me because it's been so long since the last update. I've just been busy with work, I'm also in the middle of trying to move, and the past few days I've been sick. What I have here took me most of yesterday to write because I have a lot in store for Rapunzel and Eugene. I also wanted to really think over some other things for this to make sure you'll like it. Without further adieu, here is chapter 6!_

"Rapunzel! We're fifteen minutes late for the rehearsals! Get up!" Cassandra's voice orders me quietly. I open my eyes to check my clock. It reads six fifteen. I get up and change into pink sweats and a purple tank top. No one really seems awake until about the time rehearsals will be over anyway. I brush my teeth and go downstairs to where an impatient woman with raven hair and a long silver dress is waiting. She has a pocket watch in her hand and tsks upon first sight of me and Cass.

"And where might your shoes be Princess Rapunzel?" she asks me. I look down to see my bare feet with pastel pink polish.

"I left them upstairs! I can't believe I did that!" Cassandra groans. She runs up the stairs leaving me with Ms. Snooty-pants the teacher.

"I don't normally have the courage to ask royalty this, but seeing that I have been waiting for you the past twenty minutes I feel like it is okay to ask this. What do you think you are wearing? This will not be appropriate for tomorrow at all!" the teacher informs me as if I didn't already know.

"It's not like anyone is going to see me like this. Plus, I know how to move around in a dress. I've done that my entire life. I feel like if I'm expected to wear shoes today and tomorrow I might as well wear what I want to rehearsals," I tell her.

"Why wouldn't you wear shoes?" she asks.

"I grew up in a tower where I didn't wear anything on my feet except socks during the winter. Shoes are sort of foreign to me, because my kidnapper wore them and I didn't. Had no reason to because I never went outside," I inform her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that," she apologizes. Cassandra runs down the stairs with a pair of strappy heels in her hands and sneakers on her feet.

"Why do I have to wear heels while you wear sneakers? That's not fair!" I complain.

"I know how to gracefully walk in heels and you don't. That's why," Cassandra responds still catching her breath. I roll my eyes and take the shoes from her. I take a seat on one of the thrones to put my shoes on. Once I put my shoes on I have trouble walking down the steps. The teacher refuses to help me or even let Cassandra help me. I almost trip going down the stairs at least twice and then the teacher allows me to run barefoot to the other end of the hall so that I can walk down the aisle as if we were actually beginning the ceremony. I sit on the floor to put my shoes back on. Man, I hate wearing shoes- especially heels. Never thought they'd be such a torture device. The fact that some women liked wearing them begins to baffle me.

"Now, we will work on balance while you wear these shoes and you will also be doing a lot of standing still. Cassandra, are we sure she can wear heels all throughout the ceremony? It's two hours and she told me she just recently wore shoes. Besides, you saw her walk down the stairs," the teacher reminds Cass.

"I think we can make that decision at the end of practice," she says helping me off the floor.

"Very well," the teacher responds looking worried.

"Is making her walk down the aisle a hundred times with three books on her head necessary though Gretchen?" Cassandra asks.

"How else do you teach someone to walk gracefully in heels? Wasn't that how I taught you to walk before senior year?" the teacher asks.

"Wait a second! I must have missed something! You wore heels in high school? I honestly have no idea what your name is, and the fact you know Cass must mean something. Also, who said anything about books being balanced on my head? That's something I never signed up for!" I vent.

"I think it's time you knew my backstory. You might as well know it," Cass tells me sitting on the floor gesturing for me and my "how to princess" teacher to join her in the middle of the throne room on the floor. We look at each other and join her.

"First thing first Cassandra. I'm Gretchen. Cass and I graduated in the same class, although I am a full six months older than her. I graduated at eighteen when she graduated at seventeen. Also, it is a very effective way to learn balance. Unless one of your new princess friends told you a different way to learn balance in one day," Gretchen says.

"I never signed up for balancing things on my head," I remind her.

"You did when you came down here for practice," she fires back.

"So do you want to know why I'm the way I am or not?" Cassandra asks impatiently.

"You must be important to her because it took all of junior year for her to tell me this," Gretchen tells me.

"So, my mom never wanted kids. As a matter of fact she and my father, the Captain of the Guards, had gotten married as soon as they graduated high school and they had no idea of what they were getting into. When they were twenty-two my dad decided to become a guard. My mom hated the idea, and my dad responded that she was always with her friends and being a guard meant he would make enough to be able to pay for the rent and other bills they had. She eventually agrees to the becoming a guard idea. After basic training was over and my dad had gotten his uniform my mom found out she was pregnant. She and my dad had a fight over her being pregnant because she never wanted kids, and he loved kids and wanted at least one child. They got divorced and she moved away agreeing to continue the pregnancy. When she collected her belongings from the house they sold she kept complaining how miserable she was and wished she wasn't pregnant. She said that once she was done with this pregnancy she was never having another kid and he could keep me as long as she didn't have to visit me unless she wanted to. She then admitted the last time she saw him, when she was in labor, that she couldn't care less if she saw me because she never wanted to see the baby that ruined her body and social life. She lived with my dad the first week I was born because it was closer to the hospital and she needed to recover for a week after giving birth. Once she was given the clear to continue doing whatever, like shopping or housework or even visiting her friends and traveling she left. She left in the middle of the night without a note or anything. I've always blamed myself for that. When my dad found out he told me that she was just a selfish woman that never wanted kids, and only cared about herself and social standards. He then told me I was the best thing to ever come into his life. He never wanted to imagine what his life would be like," Cassandra says.

"It gets better," Gretchen reassures me seeing the tears streaming down my face. I could never imagine a parent to leave because they didn't want kids.

"It does?" I ask wiping my eyes with the back of my hand.

"I've heard this story before and I know it does," she says. I look at Cassandra once more.

"Gretchen is right," Cass tells me.

"She makes Gothel look nice," I tell her.

"I'll bet she does. I've only met her a few times and they didn't end well," Cass tells me.

"Finish your story! She needs to know how it ends, and I also need to know who this Gothel person is," Gretchen says.

"My kidnapper," I responds. It then seems to click in her mind.

"Anyway, growing up I would always collect things that I found from the time I was in kindergarten to the time I was in the third grade so my dad taught me to shoot a crossbow and an arrow, I learned some basic combat training up until I was in high school. Growing up, he supported everything I did. He helped me ride a bike, drive, he went to countless talent shows, defended me when I was being bullied until I reached high school, and even made sure to be as dorky as the other dads were. He threw me birthday parties for my milestone birthdays, and never forced me to go to a sleepover, and was the one to get everyone we knew to go to my graduation last year and cheer for me. The only thing he ever forced me to do was work here, and then volunteered me to be your lady in waiting. In return when I was fourteen I went to his ceremony when the old captain of the guards retired, and your dad had promoted my dad because he saw the potential that my dad had. The only time I told him I hated him was when I had turned sixteen. The day after my sixteenth birthday my mom showed up and I met her for the first time. She was a drug addict who couldn't afford her kids after getting a surgery done to stop her from having kids. She had a son and a daughter and tried to send then to live with their half sister, and the father couldn't care because he was an alcoholic getting drunk at some bar he wasn't banned from at that point. When my dad sent her away he had taken the kids to live with his mother so that they could have the proper care they needed. At the time, my sister was three and my brother was barely a year. I didn't understand why my dad did that and the next day he told me it was because I was to work after school here at the palace. We fought and in the heat of the moment before I had gone to school instead of saying "bye dad, I'll see you after school!" I told him "I hate you and wish you gave me up like you did to my half siblings!". That day I had cried for the first time and it was Gretchen's first day at the school. It was only the second week of school after all. Anyway, we became friends after that and we only talk when big projects come up like this here at the palace. Her family is in charge of helping planning parties and holidays for royalty and commoners. We always joked that ladies in waiting were basically princess babysitters. She found out yesterday that I was your lady in waiting, and we talked briefly about the conversation we had junior year. I even told her the same story about my past that I'm telling you now the last day of summer and after that we didn't see each other for a week. I thought she hated me for some reason and that second week of summer she came back and told me she had gone to Italy to visit her aunt and when she went to Italy she came back with Italian shoes and makeup. We went through this "how to be popular" transformation. The cool girls waned to be friends with her, but not me and when they gave her offers she told them that she would rather be swimming with sharks than be friends with people who are only friends with her because of the things she gets from Italy. Finally she asks why they don't want to be my friends they responded that they wouldn't be caught dead with a nerd that every teacher likes an the daughter of the Captain of the Guards. They told me my dad was a failure who couldn't even catch a teenager. Guess who that teenager he and his men couldn't catch was," Cassandra finishes.

"Who?" I ask.

"I don't even remember his name. I remember those beautiful brown eyes, and the sparkle they gave. His hair was always flopped over his eyes, and he got mad when saw those wanted posters. They could never get his nose right. The person should've been fired for that careless job they did on those posters of him,"Gretchen says. Suddenly it clicks in my mind who this teenager was.

"Oh my gosh! That teenager was Eugene!" I gasp.

"Eugene? No, it was something that started with an "F" or something," Gretchen responds.

"He was about eighteen or nineteen when you both were in high school. It had to be about a year or so before he met me Cass," I realize.

"I haven't heard anything about him being wanted still or if he died," Gretchen announces. I feel my heart break thinking about how a month ago he had died in my arms and that last bit of magic had brought him back to life.

"His name was Flynn Rider, and he's no longer-," I begin to say.

"Wait a second! You know him?! That is so cool! I can't believe I forgot his name was Flynn Rider," Gretchen laughs in realization.

"Flynn's real name is Eugene Fitzherbert and we're dating. He's actually here right now," I confess to Gretchen. Her eyes light up and I get the feeling I shouldn't have told her that.

"You're dating Flynn Rider? He's here? Can I see him?" Gretchen asks eagerly.

"Gretchen, if I remember correctly you had a crush on Flynn Rider. Let's find you a boyfriend before you meet the princess's boyfriend," Cass tells her friend. Gretchen then pouts because she can't get her way.

"So Cass, was that the end of your story?" I ask changing the subject back to Cassandra's story.

"I act like I hate you because you have a perfect mom and your dad is the king so why would anyone hate you? I never went on a date, like I said I was bullied, and even skipped my own prom because I wasn't asked. The only sense of accomplishment I felt was when I graduated at seventeen and even learned that I got to skip preschool because I was smart enough to get into kindergarten early," Cassandra tells us.

"So you don't like me because you think my life is perfect? Cass, I have to wear shoes! You know I hate wearing shoes. I also don't like the idea of having to mingle with so many snooty royals and these parties are so boring! I was also kidnapped!" I remind her.

"You also have someone willing to take care of you while you're sick and your parents have to be ruling a kingdom! I wouldn't be surprised if he asked you to marry him sometime soon," Cassandra tells me.

"Guys, we've been sitting here a full half hour. I promised the king and queen that the rehearsals will be through by nine o'clock.

"We got time. I barely woke up before I went on my run to get Rapunzel's shoes. I didn't want to tell my story, but I did because I want to be your friend despite the way I act towards you. I don't think I can do this anymore. Be alone I mean," Cassandra tells me.

"Gretchen and I can make sure you aren't. Anyway, we gotta get the rehearsals going before I take these shoes off and you have to deal with me complaining about being tired," I announce. Both Cassandra and Gretchen laugh and then help me up off the floor.

We spend two hours practicing walking down the aisle in a straight line before we work on the actual ceremony part. I learn that when Gretchen wasn't hanging out with Cassandra she was learning how to dance. She knew how to ballroom dance, tap, ballet, and free style dancing. Once she notes how tired she volunteers to go get us coffee promising that we will learn how to dance while I wear heels for the after coronation party. As soon as she leaves Cass hooks her mp3 player to the speaker and we dance to the music she has. After realizing that Gretchen had been gone a half hour we take a rest and without even realizing it I fall asleep on one of the thrones.

I slightly wake up when Gretchen gets back and announces lessons were over and she would leave our coffee in the kitchen. She suddenly gasps, but I'm not awake enough to care why.

"Oh my gosh! Flynn Rider!" she squeals. With that I spring up.

"Who?" he asks.

"She knows who you are," I inform him.

"Oh, okay. I came to check on the princess," he tells her.

"Lessons are over considering my student fell asleep," she reports. I lay my head back down and close my eyes again.

"Come here," Eugene's voice says picking me up. I wrap my arms around his neck before he carefully carries me to my bedroom. As we enter I wake up to see that the other princesses were still asleep, but after Eugene puts me back onto my bed I force him to stay. Something made me want him to stay. Perhaps it was from what we had done before leaving the tower. Cass flops down face first onto her pillow laying at the foot of my bed. Eugene holds me in his arms and I begin to feel as though we are meant to be like this.


	9. Chapter 7

When I wake up again I notice my clock reads twelve-thirty. I've only been asleep an hour and a half or so. I look up to see that I'm alone in my room. Cassandra, my sister, the other princesses, and even Eugene had left my room. I lay back down and try to decide how I want to spend my day. Do I want to sleep more or do I go in town with Cass to shop.

"Morning beautiful," Eugene announces from my doorway.

"You left me," I tell him pouting.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I was planning something for you," he says.

"What's this surprise?" I ask.

"Meet me downstairs in about an hour and you'll find out," he tells me with a mischievous, yet charming smile.

"How about you tell me where we're meeting because I was thinking about going shopping for an hour with Cass," I say hoping not to ruin his plans. Please don't be disappointed, please don't be disappointed, please don't be disappointed.

"Okay. As long as we can meet as soon as you're done in town though. I want to talk with you and we haven't had much of a chance to do that," he tells me seriously.

"Absolutely," I agree.

Within an hour Cassandra and I have done our makeup and hair before we go into town. I see Uncle Monty at a candy shop talking to the owner. Dad told me he was a business man so he was probably talking about opening up more candy shops like his. We both decided to wear sundresses mine being purple with a pink belt and my heels, and Cassandra's dress being a light blue with a yellow belt and her matching blue heels. We shop for a while before handsome man about Eugene's height looks over to us and Cassandra gets a look as if she was going to be sick or something.

"We need to go back to the castle now," she orders. She almost runs down the street leaving me to try running after her.

"Cassandra!" I shout before falling to the ground. The man that was looking at us runs over to me helping me up.

"Are you okay?" he asks me sounding deeply concerned.

"I'm fine. I just knew I should've worn sandles or something," I respond dusting myself off. I look at my once white shoes now covered in dirt and scuffs.

"You and your friend seemed as if you were running from something. You didn't steal anything did you?" he teases.

"Considering that her dad is the Captain of the Guards and my dad is the king we wouldn't be caught dead stealing anything," I retort.

"You mean that your friend is Cassandra and you're the Princess Rapunzel?" he gapes.

"I would say something sarcastic or snarky, but I'm late meeting someone. I also have to find out why Cassandra ran," I tell him turning around.

"Please, let me walk with you. It's the least I could do. Besides, I want to learn more about your friend Cassandra. I think I graduated with her," he says.

"As long as you don't walk to close to me. I can't have anyone thinking that I have a new boyfriend because I don't want to hurt my boyfriend's feelings. I already feel like I ruined his plans for today. We trust each other and I can't ruin that trust," I tell the man.

"I completely understand that Princess Rapunzel," he says nodding in agreement.

"So, what's your name? Obviously you know mine," I ask.

"Oh, I apologize for that! My name is Andrew, but my friends call me Andy," he responds beginning to walk close to me.

"How long have you known Cassandra?" I ask pushing him about a arms reach from me.

"Since about freshman year of high school," he answers proudly.

"I've known her since the day I came back to this castle. I hated her at first because I thought she was bossy," I tell him.

"She was shy, but not bossy," he tells me. I scoff while rolling my eyes.

"Princess Rapunzel! What happened? Cassandra came running over here and-," Pete the Guard begins explaining.

"Where is Eugene?" I ask cutting him off.

"In the garden," he responds.

"Thanks Pete. Thank you for walking me home. You did it because you wanted to talk to me about Cass. Didn't you? Do you like her?" I ask him.

"Yes. She liked me in high school. I know it because one of the popular girls announced it to the school about a month before prom. She was devastated, and she was mostly go to school then come back here for work," he says to me quietly.

"I would too. It may not be too late to make it up to her," I respond.

"Can you tell her to meet me in front of the bakery at seven o'clock sharp tonight? That's when I get off work," he tells me. His eyes are lit up and he has a hopeful smile on his face.

"Absolutely- I mean no. Tomorrow is my coronation and she can't be up all night because she's gotta help me with rehearsals and a few other things before it begins," I tell him. His face falls.

"Okay. Thanks anyway," he says.

"Will Monday work?" I ask remembering how she had told me that she had never gone on a date. His face lights up again.

"I get off at five Monday," he says.

"I'll have her meet you there at the bakery at five on Monday," I agree walking towards the castle leaving a love-struck boy who's probably counting the minutes until his date with Cass.

I hurry to my room where I change into my old purple dress so I can hide the scrapes and bruises from Eugene. In a relationship you should never lie, but he couldn't possibly understand this.

"Princess Rapunzel!" the Captain of the Guards exclaims in surprise as I open my door.

"Hi! Is everything okay? Does my father need to see me?" I ask.

"No, actually it's about Cassandra. What happened in town?" he asks looking concerned.

"I- I don't know. Where is she?" I respond.

"She's in her room sobbing. Haven't heard her sound this miserable since that time someone spread a rumor about her before prom," he tells me.

"I have to talk to her. I think I know why she's upset," I tell him.

"I've already tried talking to her," the Captain says. I run to her room and take a breath before knocking on the door.

"Cassandra?" I ask. For a second all I hear are sobs.

"Go away!" she orders sounding muffled.

"You did not tell the _Princess of Corona_ to go away! Don't forget you abandoned me in town!" I remind her. Seconds later the lock clicks and I gain access to her room.

"Why are you here?" she asks wiping her eyes with a towel. She had already taken her hair down and her makeup had been removed. She was wearing what looked like something that no one from the guards training wanted.

"You abandoned me in the middle of town!" I remind her. I sit on her bed across from her and show her my scrapes.

"I forgot what shoes you where wearing! I'm so sorry Raps!" she gasps.

"I ruined my shoes so unless there are more or you can take care of them then I won't be wearing nice shoes for tomorrow and Gretchen's going to be mad. Especially because of all that training we did," I tell her hoping to get her to smile.

"I can't believe we had done that. It was humiliating because in high school the most popular girl in school told everyone in the cafeteria that I liked that guy we saw," she says crying once again.

"I was told the story. His name was Andrew, right?" I ask hoping to get more information from her before I had to meet Eugene.

"Gretchen is such a bitch! I can't believe she told you!" she shouts angeirly.

"Gretchen didn't say anything! I spoke with him and he wanted me to tell you to meet him in the front of the bakery at five on Monday," I respond.

"What exactly did you tell him? Why did you even talk to him?" she badgers.

"He talked to me first and all he did was talk about you as he walked me back here. He told me that he liked you," I inform her.

"That's bull crap!" she responds.

"You ask me what happened and you abandoned me in town. Your job is to basically do what your dad is being paid to do and watch royalty. He wants to take you on a date, and it's not like I told him you've never been on one. Go to the bakery tonight at seven because I don't care if you're here for my coronation. Anyway, that was me trying to be your friend and clearly I suck at it. Have fun on your first date, I'm meeting my boyfriend now," I announce leaving before I burst into tears. I run down the stairs and past my parents to the garden. There is Eugene laying under the gazebo talking to himself. I walk over to him and sit on the steps before bursting into tears.

"Oh Rapunzel! What's wrong?" he asks wrapping his arms around me allowing me to cry on his shoulder. I wrap my arms around him and continue to sob for a few seconds.

"Cass saw someone she knew and just left me in town! When I got here and asked her why she left me in town by myself she didn't answer. I explained to her what happened to me in town and she called it bull crap. She didn't believe me and I then told her to go meet up with this guy because I couldn't care less if she came to the coronation," I sob.

"Forget about her then," Eugene tells me.

"What am I going to do about it?" I ask.

"Shh. You won't do anything because you can't do anything about it," he states. We sit in silence for a few seconds in each other's arms. I watch my mom and dad come to check on me like normal.

"This is nice," I tell Eugene after my parents retreat back indoors.

"I want to ask you something," he tells me. Our moment ends as he lets go of me and forces me to stand up.

"Zel, what happened?" he asks noting the scrapes and bruises.

"Nothing," I lie.

"That does not look like nothing," he tells me looking concerned.

"I tried running in those stupid shoes I was wearing during rehearsals," I respond.

"Why? I mean, you could've gotten hurt! Please tell me you're okay now though," he practically begs me.

"I'm fine," I promise. He hugs me tightly for a second before kissing me. Before I know it we break away from each other.

"I asked you to meet me out here because I wanted to ask you something," he tells me. He gets down on one knee.

"Are you okay? Did you drop something?" I ask him.

"What? No, what I wanted to tell you is that I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?" he asks with a beautiful sparkling ring.

"Oh, Eugene! I love you too. I love you more than you will ever know, but I can't! Not right now. I'm sorry," I apologize.

"I understand," he says will a fallen face. He gets up off the ground and looks into my eyes.

"It's just with my princess duties and everything else I don't want to have to have people fussing over the coronation and asking to look at my ring or asking to help me with the wedding. It's too much for me to handle, and Eugene I do want to marry you. However, now is just not a good time. I'm sorry," I tell him before kissing him and going back to my room where I spend hours thinking about the events that lead up to today. I rethink Eugene's proposal and I begin to rethink my answer. I sob into my pillow before I fall asleep.

I wake up to someone gently shaking me. I open my eyes expecting to see Eugene wanting a better explanation to why I rejected him, but instead I see my mom giving me a sad smile.

"Mom, is everything okay? Is dad okay?" I ask in panic mode.

"He's in his study and everything is fine. About an hour ago Eugene had told me what happened in the garden. From when you got out there until the time that you came here. Cassandra, it doesn't matter what her past is because she's guaranteed a job here because of her hard work. What happened in town is nothing! When I was three I tried on a pair of my mother's heels and they were like flats compared to yours, they were about the height I wear now, and I had been walking around in her shoes. Long story short I had tripped and hit my head on the corner of her bed and tried to hide the fact that I had lost my front two teeth and eventually needed three stitches. What happened to you today is something you won't remember even five year in the future. I doubt you'll remember it a month from now when everything is healed. Now, about Eugene's proposal," she says.

"You can't tell anyone about this! It has to stay between you, me, and Eugene!" I tell her sitting up quickly.

"Okay. I won't tell anyone about it, but I do want to talk about why you said no," she promises.

"Now isn't a good time. Maybe sometime after the coronation and when things aren't so difficult for me anymore. I want to be able to discover who I am before I get married. I want to have more adventures and- I have been thinking this over a thousand times in my head. I don't truly know why I said no," I realize.

"That's when you know it's true love. When you worry that you said the wrong answer. When your dad proposed I said yes. My mom wasn't too happy about it, but I spent days just the happiest girl in the world. The only time I had second thoughts was when she didn't show up for the wedding rehearsals. However when my mom saw the way we acted after the rehearsals when we were outside gazing among the stars she told me that she wished me all the happiness in the world," Mom says.

"That's all I want with Eugene," I tell her.

"Anyway, dinner is ready. You coming downstairs to eat?" she asks.

"I guess so. I don't want there to be anyone thinking there is something wrong or Anne starts a stupid rumor of some kind," I respond. I don't know why I give her that answer. I don't think she'd do something like that. Yet again, I hardly know her.

"No, but everyone would think something's wrong. Plus, you're the only one who Eugene can be himself around. When he was telling me he seemed a bit intimidated by me, and definitely scared of your father. There are also a lot of people here to see you," Mom reminds me. I follow her like a puppy own the stairs and take my place next to her and Eugene. My stomach seems to churn slightly upon seeing Eugene once again after I told him no. I look up expecting to see her looking at me with hatred, but to my surprise she isn't to be seen.

"Where's Cassandra?" I ask Mom.

"I don't know. She asked for the night off and I told her that that was fine. About ten or so minutes later Eugene came in to the library," she responds.

Dinner continues to drag on and after about an hour and a half I decide I've had enough and tell everyone that I was going to go upstairs to prepare for tomorrow. I leave feeling sorry for Eugene, sad because I hurt him, and lots of anger towards Cassandra. She had gone out with Andrew instead of staying. If I had it my way then I would fire her. I open my bedroom door to see a pink, gold, and white dress on my bed. The only person that was employed here and didn't show up at dinner was- Cass? My shoes that I had worn into town today had been returned to their white they had been when I had first put them on. I put them on my bay window and climb into bed thinking about my mom and Eugene. I feel guilty for turning him down, but I can't marry him until after the coronation and everything works itself out. I begin to hate myself for my answer. Why didn't I say yes?


	10. Chapter 8

The next morning I wake up to a knock on my door. Cassandra enters and she has a sad look on her face.

"Raps, about yesterday. I'm sorry about- about everything. I shouldn't have accused you of anything and- it's just that I was reminded about my past and it made me upset. It made me feel like I couldn't do anything or even stand up for myself like when I was in high school. That day that the most popular girl in school had announced it to everyone I almost didn't return and I had called Andrew names during that time. Especially after I thought he was asking me to prom out of pity. I guess all that anger I had I was taking it out on you. Can you forgive me for being a terrible friend?" she asks.

"After you requested the night off just so you could make sure I had my shoes and I'm assuming my dress for today? You didn't go out with Andrew. Of course I forgive you! Mainly because this is the first time you've called me your friend. However I want to know why you didn't end up going out with him? It would've been your first date," I respond reminding her about her story from yesterday.

"After you left, probably to cry to Eugene, I started to get dressed in my normal clothes that I wear when I'm not being your lady in waiting. This little voice inside of me told me I was being stupid and selfish. I ended up asking your mom for the rest of the day off and then just ended up putting the finishing touches on your dress. After that I did about a hundred things to get your shoes looking new. Besides, I wanted your help getting ready for my date. Did he ask about tonight or Monday?" she asks.

"He may have said something about Monday evening at five," I tell her with a small smile on my face. Her face lights up. Should I tell her about Eugene's proposal? Suddenly there is a knock at my bedroom door and Mom enters.

"You both made up! That's good! However, Rapunzel, would you join your father and me outside in the garden for breakfast?" Mom says to me. Oh, no. I did something wrong already.

"Okay. I'll be down in a few minutes. Just let me get dressed and brush my teeth," I respond.

Ten minutes later I walk outside and to the gazebo where both Mom and Dad are eating breakfast. Anne is nowhere to be seen. I catch my reflection in a window and look at my makeup and the fact that I don't look like myself. I hear Pascal from my shoulder.

"It'll be alright. Once I become crowned princess we won't have to worry about being unsure about things. Right?" I ask him. He shrugs. Once I reach my parents I put Pascal on the railing and join them. They look at me smiling.

"What's wrong?" Dad asks.

"Nothing! Mom said you wanted to talk to me," I respond looking at her in hopes she didn't tell him about the proposal yesterday at this exact spot.

"Your dad and I wanted to tell you how proud of you we are. This is a big step and both of us believe you will, with hard work, become a great queen," Mom tells me.

"Although Primrose, I wanted to also ask her what happened yesterday. She seemed upset during dinner and as a father it concerns me," Dad tells Mom.

"I was just tired. It had been a long day and we ran into someone Cass knew and then her and I had a fight over something stupid. After that Eugene and I had- we had a disagreement. After that I kind of just wanted to be by myself," I announce. Wasn't a complete lie. Pascal and Mom give me a judgmental look.

"You want to talk about it?" Dad asks.

"I'm okay now. I mean, Cass and I are friends again, but I haven't seen Eugene at all today. I'll be fine," I reassure him.

"Oh! Now might not be a good time, but Thomas, I heard bad news that Lady Cain had been spotted in town. I told the Captain of the Guards to double the amount of men if he can. We can't have anything happen or any trouble everywhere at any time," Mom reminds Dad. He begins looking concerned again.

"Absolutely not! Thank you for doing that, however I wish you would've told me earlier," Dad responds going deep into thought.

"Who's Lady Cain?" I ask.

"She's a horrible woman who's has been wanted longer than Eugene," Mom explains. I try to think about a person who could be more wicked than Gothel.

"Maybe we should discuss this later," Dad announces.

"Very well. The coronation is in about an hour so should we should focus on that instead of her," Mom says getting up and handing the plates to the a maid that had come out to clear the table. Out of the corner of my eye I see something on the roof, but when I look back I don't see anything or anyone. I shrug and follow my parents in where I find Eugene hiding in the corner as soon as my parents are a few feet away he comes out of his hiding spot and kisses me.

"Princess Rapunzel?" a guard asks. We stop kissing and look at the guard. It's Conli and he looks a bit scared.

"What's wrong?" I respond.

"Where are your parents? Lady Cain has been spotted in the castle. At least we think she has," he says quickly.

"Lady Cain? She's more wanted than Flynn Rider- I was," Eugene tells me.

"My parents went to their room to prepare for the coronation. Maybe I should tell them about this," I suggest.

"No! I mean, if they found out I told you then I can lose my job," Conli explains.

"Well, like I said they're in their room," I shrug going to my room to finish getting ready.

"Thank you, Your Highness," he says bowing slightly as I walk past him.

"You know, you don't _have to_ bow or call me 'your highness'. You can call me Rapunzel, and forget about bowing. It's just too much of a fuss," I tell him walking up the steps.

"Raps?" Cassandra calls from the top of the steps. She runs down the steps at least two at a time gripping onto the banister in case she trips in her heels.

"Is everything alright Cass?" I ask as she reaches the last step.

"You have to finish getting ready. Oh, and you're wearing those shoes just in case. I wasn't supposed to tell you this, but this horrible woman was spotted on the roof! Her name is Lady Cain," Cass informs me.

"Conli said she was spotted here in the castle. How is she dangerous?" I respond.

"Your father must have been informed that she was spotted in here after you went looking for the princess," Conli announces daring not to look Cass in the eyes.

"You son of a-," she starts to say.

"Cass," I warn her. With that she gives him a hard shove and drags me up the stairs.

Forty-five minutes later the both of us are waiting for the guy in charge of announcing me to announce me. As I pace I see a girl with auburn colored hair and dresses in a sleeveless brown top with matching sweats like pants. I notice what looks to be a rose and skull on her arm.

"Raps, they just announced you," Cass says as I watch the girl disappear. I enter the room, and as I walk towards the alter I ask myself how I didn't notice the chandelier in the middle of the room. I walk slowly making sure I observe everything- especially anything unordinary like that girl. I pause when I hear a small squeak, when it's gone I start walking once more. People begin to freak out, and I look up to see the chandelier coming down from the ceiling. Eugene shoves me out of the way and I tumble to the ground. My ears ring for a few seconds, and everyone starts to sound muffled. I continue to lay down, but with almost all the strength I have I turn my entire body to see Eugene laying almost lifelessly on the ground. I lift my head up hoping I can shake this off. I feel myself fall back down and my world goes dark.

 _So sorry this chapter is so short and was left on a cliffhanger, but I have a lot planned for what happens next! I hope to post part 2 within the next couple of days._


	11. Chapter 9

_Omg guys, I was without internet last night and the night before so I couldn't publish! Internet got turned on and started acting super weird and disconnecting our devices and what not. We ended up fixing the problem and by the time that happened it was like one in the morning and I had already been tired from our family day running errands and such. Anyway, enough of me rambling on about myself and onto Tangled!_

When I wake up I realize I'm in my room hooked up to machines that seem to be keeping track of my brain activity and my heart rate. My father is nervously pacing my room and my mom and sister are in the bay window, Cassandra's in the same chair she was in the first time I had been sick and when Eugene took care of me. I blink a couple of times before sitting up, just in case this wasn't real.

"What happened?" I ask everyone sitting up in my bed on my own.

"Rapunzel!" Dad exclaims rushing over to me and giving me a huge hug.

"Dad, what happened?" I enunciate. He gives me a sad look and is quiet for a few seconds.

"I don't know if you remember this, but there was an accident and the chandelier fell. Eugene pushed you out of the way and so far he hasn't woken up. Honey, I'm sorry," he tells me with a sadness in his eyes. I try to blink back the tears, but it's no use because I still feel the salty tears fall down my face. I hug my father and sob onto his shoulder. I can actually feel my heart seem to break because there is no way to bring him back this time.

"He can't be gone. He can't die this time," I cry. This time I can't bring him back.

After a few hours of crying and the sick feeling of it being my fault I'm unhooked from the machines. The doctor tells me to take it easy, but after waiting two whole minutes I get out of bed and look out my door where I check to make sure no one is watching. When I decide it's clear I run through the hall checking each room for my beloved. I finally find him in his room where I imagined him to be the entire time, but something told me he wouldn't be in there and I wished I had ignored that voice. As I approach him in his bed I begin to feel shaky from the lifeless sight of his body. The amount of machines hooked up to him begins to scare me, but yet I keep walking towards him. A part of me hoping he wakes up.

"Eugene? No, please wake up! Come on, you can't be gone! Not this time! This time I can't bring you back," I manage to whisper to through tears. I begin to feel a presents behind me, and when I turn around I see Cassandra with her head against the door frame.

"I have never loved anyone the way you love him. You were lucky to have that Raps. I'm just sorry it had to happen to you," Cass says in a quiet voice. I watch as she leaves looking heartbroken. Seconds after she leaves the only thing anyone can hear from the room are the sounds of the horrible monitors and my heartbroken sobs.

The entire week I walk around the place in such a state of depression that my parents stop trying to get me to do things like travel or paint. I seem to lose interest in everything I loved before. I have nonstop nightmares from what happened that day that Lady Cain had tried killing me and hurt Eugene in the process.

"Can you blame her Thomas? Next to her chameleon friend of hers he was her best friend. Pascal nor Max are able to replace the memories she had with Eugene. To be honest I thought those two were going to get married, have kids, and then eventually be king and queen. No matter what we can't find anyone to replace the love she had for him," Mom says to Dad.

"I know. I've never seen anyone so heartbroken. However, we have to have another coronation and we need to set a date for the funeral. Face it Primrose, he's gone and no matter what we can't bring him back. I just hate having to break the news to Rapunzel," Dad responds with a sigh.

It has been three days since I overheard my parents and I doubt anyone else had seen me in such a wreck. I couldn't even look at myself in the mirror because I hardly noticed myself anymore. I could hardly eat or sleep, and my parents definitely noticed. I can't concentrate throughout the entire ceremony, and the hour it lasts seems to make it harder to breathe. Finally it's my time to give my eulogy. I walk up the steps to the podium where I unfold the crumpled paper in my hands.

"I don't understand how this happened. I mean, we fell in love the same way you fall asleep. Slowly then all at once. He was my best friend and this shouldn't have happened. What no one knows is that he asked me to marry him the night before this happened. I feel like I should've said yes instead of turning him down because life was too short for him, and because I loved him with all my heart. We just had too many adventures planned before this had happened," I say with a trembling voice and shaking. Finally I can't hold back the tears and I break down sobbing in front of the entire kingdom. With that the ceremony ends earlier than scheduled.

I'm left all alone with the Captain of the Guards while there are complications at the graveyard.

"I'm sorry about this happening Your Highness. Wish we could've been able to catch her before she cut the chandelier down. I promise you that I am searching for her and so are my men. We will capture her," he promises me.

"I just miss him so much! Doing this hurts so much and I- I don't understand why she doesn't like me! Why she tried to kill me and hurting Eugene in the process," I cry.

"No one knows why people hate others. It wasn't until you came home until we learned why that terrible woman kidnapped you. Your dad would ask your mom why someone could walk away with a clear mind after kidnapping an infant, and your mom would respond with I don't know, but I like to think that one day everything will be fine and we will be reunited. Keep your head up princess because you were very lucky to turn the man I hated most into a hero. Your dad would never have invited him into the palace fearing he might steal something, but you changed his mind," the Captain tells me. I look up to see Dad across from me.

"He's right and Rapunzel, I wish we could go back to that day and save you both. It pains me to see you sad all the time. Captain, I need your help. Why don't we leave the princess alone for a few minutes to grieve?" Dad asks the Captain of the Guards. He nods and with that they both leave.

I look around to make sure that no one is around so I can go over to my love once more. I hold him in my arms once more, and for once I can't cry anymore. A few people whispering snaps me back to reality and when I look up I see a few townspeople, a handful of castle workers, and my parents. My mom is the first out of anyone to make a single move.

"Rapunzel, sweetie, it's- I'm sorry, but it's time," she tells me putting her hand on my shoulder. I feel something snap and the tears seem to start coming down once more.

"No! Don't take him! Stay away from him!" I sob. Closing my eyes I lay my head on his chest and cry. I ignore the fact that his chest is moving because it's probably my crying causing him to move. The last thing I want is false hope.

"Rapunzel, please stop crying for one second. I just want to see something really quick, but I need you to stay completely still for just a few seconds," Dad says ordering me. I do as told and watch Eugene's chest rise and fall, his fingers entwining in mine at his side.

"E- Eugene?" I whisper. I look at everyone before laying my head to his chest and hearing a strong, steady heartbeat. I look up to see his eyes flutter open.

"What happened? Zel, why are you crying? What's wrong?" he asks sitting up slowly. I can't move as if I'm in a movie that someone had paused. He gives my hand a quick squeeze and it seems to break the trans I'm in. I hug him tightly and feel one arm wrap around me.

"You're alive. We thought you were dead!" I tell him trying not to break down again.

"You can't get rid of me that easy. Although, please don't hug me so tight. I think I have a few broken ribs or at least bad bruises," he says. I let go and when I look at his face I see a slight smile. Our foreheads touch and he lifts my head so he can kiss my cheek.

"We thought you were dead. We almost buried you alive. You scared the crap out of me because I thought I lost you!" I inform him rather loudly.

"Rapunzel, I will always protect you. I'm just sorry that this time it caused you as much pain and heartbreak like back in that tower," he apologizes quietly.

"This has to be the most strangest thing to happen," Mom announces.

"Agreed," Dad responds. Both of them have confusion plastered onto their faces.

"Let's just get you both back to the castle. Eugene, she has lost a lot of sleep and she's been a totally different and not to mention boring person. I ought to punch you into last week for what you did to her even if you didn't mean to," she says in a threatening voice.

"I'm sorry for nearing death?" he responds unsure of what to make of what had just happened. We return and Eugene stays in his bed for two weeks while his injuries heal under doctors orders. I drag my pillow and blanket from my room to his so I can be near him. Some of the time I sleep in his bed next to him, and other nights when the pain is too intense for him I take refuge on the floor or in a chair in the corner of the room. When the pain medication takes effect he falls asleep rather quickly for my comfort, and each night I watch him sleep making sure his chest rises and falls like it's supposed to. As soon as I feel reassured I close my eyes praying I don't have nightmares. When I do I wake up from my nightmares it's always in a cold sweat, and I end up unable to fall back asleep until the sun begins to rise or I can't fall back to bed so I would read in my bedroom or walk around the castle hoping that Lady Cain doesn't come out of no where to kill me. Most of my nightmares feature her and Gothel tag teaming and killing Eugene. Once he's cold and dead in my arms they try to kill my parents, Anne, and Pascal. Pascal is always fed to alligator, Anne and my parents always have different deaths just like Eugene. Every time I have a nightmare I try going back to sleep only to see where Eugene had been stabbed back at the tower, and his injured and close to death body. Checking his breathing never seems to help. Eugene and my parents seem to notice not that I can blame them.

As soon as Eugene is allowed to get up and walk around I feel like I can relax a little bit. I peek into my dad's study three days after Eugene had been granted clearance to leave his room. Lucky for me both my parents are in the study. Mom's laptop next to her while she is talking with Dad about who knows what. I walk over to the computer and look through it until I find my coronation plans from before Eugene got hurt. When I look up I see my parents looking at me with confusion written on their faces once again.

"I wanted to send out the invites for the coronation myself. I wanted to surprise you, but now I feel like that was a stupid idea," I tell them.

"It would've been a good idea to tell us at least the date you had planned so that way we aren't surprised by a ton of people showing up here again. You sure you're ready for another coronation?" Dad asks.

"It's been about a month since the last month since everything happened. I figured it's time to do my coronation take two," I respond.

"When were you thinking? Of course your dad and I need to know when so the castle and staff prepared," Mom reminds me.

"A month from today. I understand it should be a bit later, but I want to get this over with mainly because it's been keeping me awake. I think it's time to just have the coronation again," I tell them. They give each other an understanding look and nod.

"Let me send out everything because there is a lot more to it then sending out the invitations," Mom tells me. I agree and leave. When I get to my bedroom I find a note. _I hope you're up for a game of hide and seek. Love, Eugene_ the note reads. I smile before I enter my room checking the closet, the bathroom, under the bed, and even the balcony. I run to his room to check under his bed and in his closet. I find another note on his night table. _Come on Zel. Think like a thief. Where would Flynn Rider hide?_ Where would he hide? I rush to my room changing into denim capris, a bright pink tank top, and pink converse before heading to my balcony where I climb to the roof. I wander around for a few minutes before realizing I can't get down. I can't find a single balcony and I've been jumping to different parts of the roof. I jump to lower roofs before I get to the balcony that leads into the ballroom. As fun as that was I decide I will never do that again.

"Princess Rapunzel! What in the world were you doing on the roof? What are you wearing?" Allena screeches. A couple handfuls of townspeople look over to me and there are seven other royal-ish people including her husband are behind her.

"I'm playing an extreme game of hide and seek," I explain. The townspeople turn away from the scene knowing that something ordinary and the others continue to gawk at me. I turn and go inside to check almost every room in the palace. The kitchen, the library, every bedroom, every bathroom, the ballroom, the dining room, and even throne room. I had never been so scared being in one room. I head out to the commons where my family is with Allena and the people she had come with.

"Rawr!" a voice shouts. I let out a scream and when I turn around I see Eugene laughing. As soon as I calm down and my soul returns to my body I punch him in the shoulder as hard as I can.

"You stupid! Eugene Fitzherbert you need to stop scaring me! I hate you!" I tell him.

"I'm sorry," he apologizes giving me a hug. It isn't until he kisses me on my cheek that I forgive him. I look over to see everyone gawking once again. I punch Eugene in the arm one more time before running up the stairs and his foot steps are close behind me. We reach my bedroom where Cass is sitting on my bed as if she had been waiting a while.

"You've been hanging out with this dud? I am insulted!" Cassandra announces.

"We just played an extreme game of hide and seek. Apparently I was "it" this time," I inform Cass. She gives the both of us an unamused look. Just then I notice that her hair is wet and she's not in her regular clothes she wears when she's off, but instead she is dressed in her lady-in-waiting dress without the hennin.

"Listen, I need your help. As you know, it's my day off. If you want me to get to the point I can't have him in here," she explains.

"Please? It's obvious she doesn't trust you, and I respect that because we're now friends. Oh, and hide from me one more time and I will hurt you," I threaten. With that he sighs dramatically and walks out the door and I make sure he doesn't stay by the door. He goes to his room and I shut the door before sitting across from Cass on my bed.

"So, I was in town and ran into Andrew. He said he wanted to meet up and go to dinner tonight. I asked him if he was asking me out on a date and he said that it seemed that way. I about died right then and there. I told him that I would love to. I must have sounded desperate! Anyway, when I got back to my room in a lovesick daze I had remembered that this is my first date and I don't know how to dress for one so I was wondering if I could get some help. I called Gretchen and she was telling me how she had left yesterday morning to help a royal duchess and duke prepare a christening. Can you help me?" she asks.

"I would love to! Let me just tell Eugene that he needs to post-pone our searching for trouble plans for like an hour or so. I won't tell him anything except that. If he asks why I'll tell him that if he finds out then I'd have to kill him," I promise.

"Thanks Raps," she says as I leave. I run to Eugene's room where he lays on his bed and panic fills my body. I rush over to him only to see his chest rise and fall like it's supposed to. I kiss his ear and brush the hair out from in front of his face before leaving.

After an hour I have completed Cassandra's entire first date look. I help her with minimum makeup because it was clear he loved how she had always been beautiful. I give her eyeliner and mascara with a red lipstick to match her skin tone. Her hair had always looked tricky so I brush it out and put mousse in it to give it a cute, tousled look. I pick out a light blue, halter top sundress with white sneakers. She takes one look in the mirror and it's like she was a princess.

"Thank you so much for helping me Raps. I just wish that when I was younger by two or three years that it could've been my mom helping me," she confesses. I give her a quick hug before I open the door to reveal the Captain of the Guards about to knock on the door.

"I was just about to get you Cassandra. Andrew is here," he tells his daughter.

"How did you know I was going out with him?" she asks.

"Because he told me that you both were going out on a date and then proceeded to panic when he realized he never asked me if he could take you out," he responds.

"This is already the worst date ever," she groans.

"He's always been a great kid. Go, have fun," he tells his daughter. Her eyes light up as she looks at him before she quickly hugs her dad and leaves quickly.


	12. Chapter 10

The rest of the night Eugene and I play extreme hide and seek even though it's a game for kids up to the age of at least eight and the both of us are eighteen and twenty. The game continues until the sun falls, and we get caught by Nigel the Adviser.

"Princess Rapunzel, it is not proper etiquette for you to be running around the castle. Especially barefoot. You should not be encouraging the princess to do these things. Anyway, as long as you both are done acting like children, your parents are asking you to come down to dinner Princess Rapunzel," Nigel says.

"Thanks Nigel," I tell him then mock him the entire way down the stairs. No one says a word the first twenty minutes of dinner and the silence drives me insane. I can't stand it.

"So, this is nice," Anne says clearly annoyed with the silence like I am.

"Yep," Eugene agrees sarcastically.

"Rapunzel, I forgot to tell you that everything is all ready-," Mom starts to say.

"I haven't told Anne or Eugene yet," I interrupt.

"You haven't told us what yet?" Anne asks.

"I set another date for my coronation. I'm calling it Coronation Take Two," I announce.

"You sure about this?" Eugene asks.

"I want to get this over with. I have been having nightmares since it happened, and I think the only way I can be okay is if I actually have this coronation," I respond hoping it made sense and wasn't as stupid as I thought it was.

"I'll be right by you the entire time and so will your parents. Also Anne," Eugene tells me. He makes me smile. Eugene thinks of Cassandra like a sister and he treats Anne like he treats Cass. It makes me happy that he can get along with them if and when we do marry sometime in the future.

"Thank you for not telling me that this is stupid," I respond. With that dinner continues in silence. I'm relieved when Eugene, Anne, and I are excused.

Cass comes back and it's like as soon as she got inside and her date had left she ran up to my room. Either that or the date when so terrible that she came up to my room to kill me. She catches her breath and flops onto my bed. I check under my bed making sure I have my frying pan before I go back to reading my book.

"Oh my goodness! The night ended way too quickly!" she informs me.

"How was it?" I ask. She begins to grin and sits up bouncing with excitement.

"He got me a single red rose, and then took me to dinner and dancing. We got here and after I told him I had a great night he told me he did too. I thanked him for taking me out and it got super awkward. It was horrible! Then, as I start to turn to go in he grabs my waist and kisses me!" she explains. The both of us squeal with excitement. Anne comes into the room and informs us we have to shut it, and we throw pillows at her resulting in a pillow fight and a sleepover.

It's like ever since I set the date for Coronation Take Two anxiety flows through my body like a river, and every thirty seconds I find myself thinking about what could go wrong this next time. Up until two weeks before the second coronation we learn that at least ninety percent of our guests are able to make it once more. They arrive within three days of take two.

Eugene and I have hardly ever been separated after the almost funeral. One of us would go to each other's room to sleep each night. I would do it for comfort being next to him and he would do it knowing how happy it made me and how safe I felt. The day before Coronation Take Two Eugene and I fall asleep in my bay window. It was obvious that both of us still weren't sleeping well at night so we decided to catch up on it. He wraps his arms around me and I fall asleep feeling safe.

Suddenly all I can see is his dead body, and the only difference is that there's blood everywhere. Both Gothel and Lady Cain are there laughing as he lays in my arms far, far from living. He feels so cold. I sort of wake up feeling restless and still try fighting both women in my sleep. I feel my knee hit something- or someone and a thud follow that. I sit up quickly noticing that Eugene is no longer sleeping next to me. As if he disappeared. I turn to see what caused the thud sound only to see Eugene on the ground looking like he was injured. I gasp before rushing to the ground to help him.

"Are you okay?" I ask him trying to look him in the eyes. He nods before putting his head on my shoulder.

"I'm fine," he responds now sounding muffled and as if he's in a lot of pain.

"Was that you I kicked in my sleep?" I ask beginning to feel guilty about what I could've still probably stopped. His only response is a nod. I wrap my arms around him wishing I could help him. I hear the door and when the both of us look up it's closed as if nothing happened. I get up and peek out the door to see Cassandra looking as if she saw what happened.

"You didn't see anything, did you?" I ask her.

"No, I didn't see your boyfriend try leaving by climbing over you and you accidentally kicking him in the process," she responds trying to keep a straight face. I pull my hair back out of my face.

"You did see it! Don't laugh, it's not funny!" I order her.

"I know, but at least he's okay," she says cracking a smile.

"I unintentionally kneed my boyfriend. I don't see how that is funny," I tell her.

"If I were you I'd go make sure that he was okay. Listen, this is going to stay between the three of us. I promise," Cassandra promises. I nod and return to my room where Eugene is still on my bedroom floor in pain. I wrap my arms around him and he puts his head back on my shoulder and wraps one arm around me. I kiss his head as if he could feel better by me doing that.

"I'm sorry about this. I didn't mean to hurt you," I tell him in his ear.

"I know. I'll be fine. Eventually," he says trying to reassure me.

"This wouldn't have happened if we had slept on my bed," I remind.

"Well we both wanted to read in the bay window and then we both fell asleep there. This also did happen," he tells me.

"You think when we have kids and they're around teenage years we'll talk about the most embarrassing things and when this comes up we'll laugh about it?" I ask him. Eugene lets go of me and looks me in the eyes.

"I'm sure we will be laughing about this tonight," he reassures me. He gently kisses me and it hardly lasts a second before someone knocks on my door.

"Rapunzel?" Mom's voice calls out.

"We have to hide you before my parents find out what happened. Then it won't be funny later tonight," I tell him helping him up off the floor.

"Rapunzel? Can we come in and talk for a second?" Dad's voice asks.

"Crap. Yeah, if your dad finds out then it'll never be funny," Eugene says as we go to my bathroom. A place I doubt they'll see him. Unless I should've just hidden him in my closet like I did when I lived in the tower. Mother Gothel had no idea about him until after realizing I left.

"Yeah, just give me a second though," I tell my parents. Once he's hidden I open my bedroom door and my parents enter.

"Rapunzel, your father and I want to talk to you before dinner. We want to make sure that you're okay with another big ceremony," Mom tells me. I hesitate before answering her.

"What if something goes wrong?" I ask sitting on the foot of my bed.

"Well, as long as we have Lady Cain chained up in jail then nothing will go wrong," Dad tells me as if it was simple and she was already in jail.

"Okay. Thank you for reassuring me. I'm okay to have the ceremony as long as Eugene can be right next to you. We also should double the guards in case we still haven't captured her. I don't want to have to keep inviting people over for a coronation that doesn't seem to happen," I tell them. They join me at the foot of my bed and hug me. I begin to feel safe and that reminds me about how I have hidden my boyfriend.

"I'll make sure your father keeps an open mind about Eugene and we can double the guards on duty. I'm also sick of having to send out invites and such when each coronation goes wrong. Even though it's only the second time we're having this," Mom says.

"Speaking of Eugene, where is he? I wanted to talk to him about something," Dad announces.

"I can let him know you'd like to talk to him when I see him. I had taken a nap, and I hadn't seen him since before that. Maybe he's in the library or something," I suggest.

"You sure he's not either under your bed, in the closet, or in the bathroom hiding?" Dad asks as if I was a criminal being interrogated.

"Daddy! I am not someone you can just interrogate! I need you to trust me instead of thinking that I'm hiding him in here," I tell my father even though he's right that I have him hiding from him.

"Well then, please let him know that what I want to talk about is very important and it also effects where he's at during the coronation tomorrow," Dad informs me.

"I will make sure he knows that then," I assure my father. He kisses the top of my head before him and my mother leave. I rush to where Eugene is to find the door locked.

"One second," is the only response I get from him.

"Rapunzel, we forgot to tell you that dinner will be ready in about ten minutes so why don't you come down. We don't want to keep everyone waiting. Besides, I'm sure that Eugene is already downstairs waiting to talk to your father," Mom tells me.

"I'm sure of it!" I tell her rather too quickly.

"Is he hiding in here? What happened that has you acting jumpy?" Mom asks.

"I have to tell her," I tell Eugene through the door. The door unlocks and swings open.

"I thought we were going to keep it from them," he whispers in my ear.

"As long as she doesn't tell my dad then we'll be fine," I try reassuring him. He sighs.

"We fell asleep in here because neither if us were sleeping much since the date of the second take of the coronation was made," Eugene starts to tell her.

"That's nothing as long as you only slept and nothing else happened," Mom says.

"There's more to the story," I inform her.

"That's only for-," she starts to say.

"What happened is that after I woke up I tried leaving the room and it was at the same time she was having a nightmare. It's not the worst thing to happen, but let's just say that I wish we could've waited a while longer before telling the story to anyone," he finishes.

"We fell asleep on the bay window so he had to climb over me to leave," I say filling in any details he seemed to lack.

"Well then. You come down whenever and Rapunzel, why don't you walk down with me?" Mom suggests.

"Okay," I nod before giving Eugene a quick hug and leaving.

Mom and I walk to the stairs in silence.

"I think that the story would've been a little bit funnier after the both of you were married and you were in labor with your first child," Mom tells me breaking the silence.

"I think that too! Although I don't think we should talk about it ever again. I feel so bad about it," I tell her.

"Don't. You didn't mean to hurt him, and he's going to come down soon," Mom tries reassuring me.

"He better or I'll have to treat him like a baby, and bring him food and stuff. I guess that the only thing I should find okay about this is that at least he's going to be okay and I hope that one day we can laugh about this still," I tell her.

"Hey, Zel?" Eugene calls out. I look up to see him at the top of the stairs. I rush to his side as we both walk down the stairs. One arm around his side and the other on his stomach. He keeps one hand on me for stability and the other on the banister.

"You going to be okay to talk to my dad after dinner?" I ask.

"I should be fine. I can walk by myself. As long as stairs aren't involved," he tells me.

"That's good. As long as I don't have to help you upstairs tonight. If I did then my dad would probably figure that something happened. He'd know that something was up," I remind Eugene.

"As long as he doesn't want to talk to me before dinner. We also don't have to worry unless Cassandra put me at the kiddie table or something," Eugene says.

"She would do that," I realize. We get to the bottom of the stairs and see my father looking at us as if we were crazy. I take a step away from my boyfriend.

"We can explain what happened," I tell him.

"I rather find out later when I talk to Eugene after dinner," Dad says.

"Thomas," Mom warns.

"Am I in trouble for doing something?" Eugene asks.

"It's not like I plan to execute him after dinner in my study Primrose! No, Eugene, you aren't in any trouble. Think of this as a talk with your girlfriend's father instead of with the King," Dad responds.

"Still seems like you should worry," I whisper loudly to Eugene. Mom stifles a laugh and Eugene tries to hide a smile.

"Like I said, I won't execute him! All I want is to talk. No lectures, no yelling, no killing, and no banishing," Dad announces as if we were trying to convince him that he shouldn't talk to Eugene because something would go wrong.

"You joining us for dinner or not?" Anne asks.

"Coming," I respond with a small smile.

 _Sorry about any parts that were lame. I've been distracted with work and moving too. Once I finish moving and all that and my stress gives me a break then I will work harder on this so it isn't lame._


	13. Chapter 11

Throughout dinner I can tell that people are worried about tomorrow, hoping that nothing will happen like last time. I can't stop shaking or panicking. Thankfully I am excused when Cass comes home and to the dining room in her lady in waiting outfit. She asks if she can take her to finish getting my dress tailored. I go with her and we go to the tailoring room where I try my dress on. This new one is pink, yellow, and white with a skirt so long that as I try walking I keep tripping over it. We try the dress with a crinoline underneath and I can walk without almost breaking my face.

"That looks great!" Cass says. At that moment she notices I seem distracted.

"I'm not so sure about this. I mean, it seems a bit much. You know how I like simple," I tell her gesturing to my old, purple dress.

"I know, but after tomorrow you have to wear things like this. Or at least that's what I've learned being a castle employee," Cass shrugs. I change back into my everyday dress and the both of us go to my room and flop onto my bed and stare at the ceiling.

"Cass?" I finally ask after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah?" she responds as if she isn't paying a bit of attention.

"What if something happens to Eugene again? Or, this time I get hurt or my parents or Anne are put into danger? Lady Cain is still out there," I remind her.

"I know Raps, I know. The thing about Lady Cain is that she has spent a life in crime, and she has never thought simple like other thieves. Her crimes could put her in jail until her great grandchildren are born. I mean, not that she has kids right now. She even took lessons from Eugene when he was Flynn Rider. As a what not to do," Cass explains.

"I swear I'll kill her next time I see her," I promise with anger filling my body.

"People say that but they never follow through. It's just an empty promise. It also tends to get people to hate you or think that you're a bad person," Cass informs me. I shake my head.

"I know I never did anything to her so why hurt me?" I ask Cass.

"That's like asking "why do bad things happen to good people?". No one really knows. Some continue on and others just- actually, I'd like to know what those who don't just continue and move on. I mean, ceist la vie. That's life," Cass responds.

"That's what you've been doing since you were little. Fighting your own battles," I remember.

"I still do! When you do stop fighting your own battles and expect someone else to win for you then you let defeat win. Raps, don't you EVER let defeat win," Cass orders me.

"I won't," I promise her. She lets out a sigh before sitting up.

"Let's go out and do something a princess would almost never do. Let's leave Corona," Cass announces. I sit up and feel my eyes widen as they fill with fear.

"No Cass! Especially not before my second coronation," I argue.

"We'll return, but I need to get your mind off of tomorrow," Cass explains pleadingly.

"When? I mean, how long will we be gone?" I ask.

"Just a few hours. Five or six at most. It takes about two hours to reach the boarder if we hurry, so round trip is about four hours. Then after that we can explore for an hour or two. Besides I want to show you something," Cass says excitedly.

"Let's hurry then because I still need a few hours of sleep before the coronation tomorrow," I remind her. She gets a big smile on her face.

We take a secret exit through a secret door in the kitchen. Cass takes me to a secret tunnel that leads to the end of town where Max and Sophie are hiding as they wait for the both of us to make our way out of town. Within two hours we reach the wall. Before I climb swing down on the other side of the wall I take my last look at my home. _Home._ The very word felt strange to even say because now that I was with my family again for so long. This new life makes me feel like I can't do anything without making a mistake. It's like I can no longer be myself because I'm scared that I'll ruin Dad's reputation, and unlike Eugene's reputation when he was pretending to be Flynn Rider Dad's reputation as king is as real as the sun or the moon. I take a deep breath and swing down to the other side of the wall just outside of Corona. _I'm sorry Dad. I know you had this wall built to keep me and Gothel in Corona, but I have to see more. Don't worry though, I'll be back before morning._ I take a deep breath before swinging down the rope to the other side of the wall ignoring the rope burn because of the adrenaline pumping through me. Once Cassandra and I tend to the horses we continue on until about twenty-seven minutes later we reach a cliff.

"Are you trying to kill me? Is that why we're on this cliff?" I ask completely out of breath.

"I would've done this about two or so months ago if I really wanted to do something like that. Now that we're friends I won't kill you," she responds.

"Very funny Cassandra," I tell her sarcastically.

"I'm being serious! Now that we're friends I will hurt Eugene if he breaks your heart. Even if someone from his past comes up wanting to pick up were they left off. No, I won't kill you because I value my life and my job," Cass promises me. We reach a mysterious stone with sharp, spiky rocks surrounding it.

"This is where my dad's men found the flower that saved both you and your mom. I was exploring with Gretchen about a week after my graduation. She was leaving to visit her cousin in America and vacation, and I just had the day off so I suggested leaving Corona and exploring. I discovered this and neither of us told anyone because we promised to keep this a secret. She allowed me to include you in this secret because it's about you and your past," Cass explains to me. I brush off the dust and dirt covering the words on it. The rocks begin to glow and as I touch it there is a force that throws Cassandra and I against the wall of the cliff. After a few seconds I realize that we must have been knocked unconscious because when I open my eyes it's as if the rocks want to impale us. We start running for our lives and I can't help noticing something glowing out of the corner of my eye. When I think we're far enough away I slow down and notice that the glowing gold I keep seeing is my hair. The gold hair is back!

"Oh no!" I gasp.

"Keep running, they're not stopping and they're getting closer!" Cass shouts from a few feet behind me. I continue running leaping off a hill. As I land I hear a gentle thud behind me. I slowly turn around wishing to see Cassandra, but as I look to the ground I see my golden hair. All seventy feet of it.

"Um, Cassandra?" I ask.

"Keep going Raps we- whoa, what?" she exclaims.

"We may have a problem," I tell her. As a rock shoots from the ground right by Cass she grabs her sword and swings it against the rock. Upon impact the sword shatters.

"Crap! That wasn't supposed to happen!" she says freaking out.

"We have to make it back to Max and Sophie! Remember, if we die then there's going to be trouble. My dad will bring us back from the dead only to kill us again!" I remind Cass. We continue running and as we reach the other side of the rope bridge Cassandra uses a dagger to break the ropes so the rocks could finally stop chasing us.

"Well, that could've gone worst, but it's all good. Nothing bad happened," Cass says mounting Sophie. I turn to look at her.

"Nothing bad happened? Did you see the seventy feet of- my father's going to kill me- growing from my head?" I ask pulling the blonde strands of hair in my hands.

"Let's just go back and then we'll figure this out. I've cut my own hair before so- yeah," she tells me. I give her an _are you kidding me_ look before mounting Max as we set off to go back home.

 _Ugh! I hate moving! I'm hoping to update more once I do move so that I can finish this story soon. This is about half of what I have planned for Rapunzel, Eugene, Cassandra, and the rest of them so you still have a lot more, but I hate how it's taken so long to get to their happily ever after. I plan on making a Tangled Ever After story, but of course that'll be after this one. I've also been going through some stuff and that's been keeping me from my writing, but I promise that I will write and update as quickly as possible depending on my internet situation after I move on Tuesday. Stay awesome!_


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